Bleach:An Altered Tale
by AP Edwards
Summary: This is Bleach from the beginning, if Rukia had met up with Hiyori shortly before coming to Ichigo's house to find the hollow nearby and she join in on his adventure from early on. It's a lot like the regular series but there are some big differences.
1. Chapter 1

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

* As a updated reminder, the rating has been changed from teen to mature, this doesn't mean it will be full of detail adult situations, I just wanted freedom in case I wrote some bloody battles, as Bleach is known for.

Ichigo Kurosaki was having a annoying couple of days so far. First was his dad waking him up by attacking him in his sleep , then he had to deal with some skater punks who decided it was alright to knock over a vase of flowers that was left for a young girl, who had been killed in that area, and not replace them. He had no problems with helping the ghost girl out or anything nor did he have any quorums about beating some sense into those idiotic punks. He was just annoyed about having even more ghosts then usual bug him ever before since he had first made contact with the young frightened ghost girl a few weeks prior. He was also freaked out about the giant bug like thing that after said ghost girl earlier that day. And that weird short girl in the black samurai-like robes who had sliced it in half with a sword then disappeared.

Some people may thing seeing ghosts was insane, but after seeing them virtually every day of his 15 years of life he was more or less used to it by now. Maybe it had to do with something in his family's history, or maybe it was because his family ran a small ,local clinic.. He wasn't sure, all he knew right now, was that he was hungry. Stepping through the front door he knew he should pay more attention but was to hungry and thinking about his ghost seeing ability to think clearly.

"I'm home…." Ichigo started to say, in a bored tone.

But no sooner then those words left his mouth then he received and roundhouse kick from his father that planted him on the floor head first.

"You let your guard down!" His father, Isshin Kurosaki, stated calmly, with his hand on his hips. "Always stay alert when you enter a room ,and your late for dinner again."

"Come, on! Is how you treat your own son after he just helped a spirit find peace!" Ichigo yelled out angrily.

"So it the ghosts fault now is it!" Isshin countered , " I bet it's the ghost's fault your room's a mess now too, huh?"

After a few more assaults to each other, both physically and verbally , Ichigo gave up on dinner and headed to his room.

After laying in his bed for only a few minutes, he was freaked out by the weird girl in black, who had killed the bug thing earlier, as she walked through his wall and landing soundlessly on the floor. This time however, she was accompanied by a even weirder and equally short blond girl dressed in a white tank top, what looked like a red with white striped sweat jacket and matching pants, flip-flops and a sword in a sheath, hanging over her shoulder . She was cleaning her ear with her pinky finger, and had a scowl ,that rivaled his own on her face.

"I still don't know why I needed your help" The short blond complained, while flicking her earwax off her finger , "it's just one or two small time hollows ,it's not like it's a frikin Menos or something"

"Be that as it may, You still haven't answered my questions, about where you got your Zapakto from, how you can use your spiritual pressure so well, and how you seem to have Soul Reaper training." The raven haired girl in the black robes said, not even looking at her.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled, as he kicked the black haired girl in the ass, sending her flying to his floor. "Who the hell are you two, and how did you get in my room!"

The short blond girl, took one look at this, and went slightly wide eyed, then she started to snicker, and finally, all happening in in course of a few seconds, she bust out laughing so hard she fell on her ass, and actually had tears coming from her eyes.

"Holy frickin crap!" she said calming down a bit," That was the funniest thing, I've ever seen!" She said laughing a bit more and holding her sides slightly.

"Really now" Ichigo asked, smirking a little, as he looked over at her.

"Wait a minute!, you can see us? And.. you kicked me, but we can't be seen by ordinary humans. Are you saying you can see us?" asked the other, short raven haired girl, who stood up, and rubbed her sore butt with one hand.

"Well considering that was my foot I just plated in your behind, you tell me" Ichigo stated with a small edge amount of humor to his voice.

This got another small round of giggles from the other girl , who was now sitting on his bed, kicking her feet against his desk chair.

"Hey would you cut that out?,.. Um ..whoever you are?" Ichigo said to the blond girl sounding a little mad.

"Hiyroi… Hiyori Sarugaki" She stated, kicking his chair once more, not looking at him

"What?" he asked , somewhat confused.

"That's my name, dumbass, what, are you hard of hearing or something ?" Hiyori stated , frowning at him.

"Oh , right, Hiyori.. I'm Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki" He said , as he turned towards the raven haired girl. "What about you? what's your name, midget?" Ichigo asked, frowning at the girl dressed like a samurai.

"Midget!, take that back strawberry!, It's Rukia!, for your information" Rukia stated looking annoyed.

"Well then, Rukia, why don't you go play your games elsewhere, ok little brat?" Ichigo stated ,patting her on the head, like a dog.

"Little brat am I?" Rukia said quietly. "Bakudo number one, Sai!" Rukia yelled out, causing Ichigo's arms to pull back and lock behind him, suddenly. "That was a Kido spell, a powerful incantation only Soul Reapers can use, ..and f.y.i , little brat ,I may appear young to you, but I've lived nearly 10 of your lifetimes. …Now listen up, while I try to explain to you what a Soul Reaper is." She said , pulling out a notebook and markers from inside her robes.

Some time later, Rukia finished explaining what a soul reaper was to Ichigo, while Hiyori lay on his, bed, throwing tacks at the ceiling. "So any questions, so far" Rukia asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, why do your drawings suck so bad?" He asked looking irritated, at having to listen to her , while having his arms stuck behind his back by her Kido spell.

Her response was to , draw a mustache on him with her marker. "Really, what about this drawing? ,I think this one looks fine to me", she said, smiling somewhat wickedly.

"He's right, you know, your drawing do suck, and nothing you do can make them any better" Hiyori said, sitting up and frowning at her. "Oh, and if your thinking of trying your kido spell on me, I'll shove my flip flop clad foot so far up your ass, you'll be spitting rubber out for a week"

Now it was Ichigo's turn to laugh his ass off as he rubbed his face against the floor to get the marker off him. "Hehehe hahaha!, now that was funny, I think I'd like to see that one!"

"Anyway's…"Rukia started " I think that…" But what ever she was going to say was interrupted by a loud and terrifying roar from outside.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo exclaimed, still on the floor.

"A hollow" Hiyori stated grimly.

"You mean those things Rukia was talking about!" He asked wide eyed " There's one near here!"

Suddenly, Rukia raced to the door and yanked it open, just as Ichigo's sister, Yuzu, fell in front of it, looking weak.

" That's my sister,… Yuzu!, what happened, where's Karin?" He asked quickly, looking worried.

"Ichigo.." Yuzu said weakly, "Karin's been.. You gotta save her" She then collapsed unconscious on the floor.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled out, trying to inch his way towards her.

Hiyori knelt down next to her and checked her pulse as Rukia ran out the door, to save the other girl from the hollow. "She'll be fine, she's just unconscious, relax" She said to him, still looking down at Yuzu with her permanent scowl plastered to her face.

As she stood up, wrapped her hand around her sword's handle and walked out his door, as she did Ichigo yelled out " Hey, wait a minute, unbind me!"

"Sorry, I can't undo another Soul Reaper's Kido spell" Hiyori stated grimly, as she started walking again.

"Where are you going", he yelled out as she broke into a run down the hall.

"To make sure that Soul Reaper doesn't screw up and get your sister killed" She yelled back, not stopping.

Outside, Hiyori just caught up with Rukia just as she drawing her sword out. Hiyori looked up and saw a huge hollow holding on to a small girl, who was swearing at it, and yelling in pain. "What the hell are you waiting for?" She asked Rukia. "A Soul Reaper's number one duty is to kill hollows, get your ass moving before it eats her!" She snarled at her, gripping her own sword in it's sheath.

"Hey, .. KARIN!" Ichigo yelled from behind them. This caused both girls to widening their eyes.

"Hey!" Hiyori said, "How the hell are you standing, while caught in a binding spell?"

This mirrored what Rukia was thinking as well. _She's right, he shouldn't be able to stand!, He'd need some decent amount of spiritual pressure to do that… Then again, he can see and interact with us, so he probably does have a good amount… how very strange for a mere human,_ she thought to herself.

"Ichigo!. Get your ass over here" Karin yelled out.

"Hold on, Karin.. I'm coming!" Ichigo yelled out, as he tried to pull his arms away from his back.

"Wait!" Rukia cried out " If you keep doing that , you'll only cause damage to your soul!"

Miraculously, though, after a few moments of pulling, he actually did break out of the Kido , with a flash of light coming from him as he did. He grabbed a folded up chair and ran passed the girls, who were both somewhat bug-eyed at what they had just witnessed.

"Hey, you!, stop picking on innocent bystanders and fight me one on one ,you ugly bastard!" Ichigo yelled out to the hollow, who was holding on to his sister, Karin.

The hollow turned towards him as Ichigo slammed the chair into him. The hollow flung him away easily with one arm. Undeterred, Ichigo raced back towards it, and just as he got to it the Soul Reaper appeared in a flash, cutting into the hollow's arm, while Hiyori face planted her feet into it's face, both attacks wounding it badly, and causing to temporality disappear from sight as it cried out in pain. Hiyori then caught the girl, Karin as she fell out the hollow's hand and handed her to Ichigo. "No.. Karin!" Ichigo started.

"Relax, the hollow left with devouring either of your sister's souls." Rukia stated somewhat calmly, while still gripped her sword tightly in both hands. "This particular hollow seems to be after a much more specific soul tonight, one with a much higher concentration of spirit energy. In fact, that hollow from before, was after the same source of spirit energy. I think that the hollows are really after you.!"

"Their after me?" Ichigo said wide eyed as he held on to his unconscious sister.

"It appears so" Rukia stated calmly.

"And those vicious attacks on that young girl's ghost were also because of me?" He asked.

"Yup!" Rukia said simply.

"And now my sisters are in danger and it's all my fault?" He stated simply.

"That's one way of looking it, I guess" Rukia said, not looking at him.

"ROOOOOOAAAAARRRR!" The sound pierced the night and the hollow reappeared, looking angrier then before.

"It's back!, take your sister and get out of here!" Rukia yelled as she readied her sword once more.

"Hey, you fish face!" Ichigo yelled out, " Stop going after others! If it's my soul you want , then come and take you ugly bastard!"

"Wait no!" Rukia yelled out.

Ichigo closed his eyes as the hollow was about to reach him but, when he heard a wet slunching noise, but he didn't feel any pain. He opened his eyes and saw the Soul Reaper Rukia both cutting into it's mouth with her sword and his teeth biting into her, the wounds from both things squirting out blood as they happened.

"Soul Reaper!" He yelled out as the she fell face forward and the hollow grabbed it's face in pain.

"Shit ,that looked painful" Hiyori said, in a somewhat bored tone as she stood there next to Ichigo's sleeping sister. "What an amateur she is"

"Your.. a fool.." She said between painful breaths. " Did you honestly think.. You'd be any match for a hollow. And giving it your soul wouldn't work, one soul won't satisfy them for long!"

"I'm ..too injured.. To fight." She said as she propped her self against the fence." Do.. you.. Want to …save your family?"

"Yes , if there's a way, then tell me how!" He said loudly to her.

"Hey you can't be thinking of doing that, can you?" Hiyori started.

"Doing what?" He asked, looking over at Hiyori.

"It will only be temporary, but you must become a Soul Reaper, yourself" Rukia said, holding out her sword.

"Take my Zanpaktou, run it through to the center of your being, and I will attempt to pour my powers into you" She said, still out of breath.

"That will work?" Ichigo ask, somewhat bewildered

"I think so, She said , looking up at him. "You managed to break out of a powerful Kido spell quite easily, you can see and interact with spirits as if they were ordinary people and you seem to have a huge well of spirit energy inside of you. Spirit energy that was probably unlocked when you made contact with that young girl's ghost.

"Fine" He said taking a hold of her sword by the blade as she pointed to the center of his chest. "Then give me those powers, Soul Reaper"

She smiled slightly, "It's Rukia remember?, Rukia, Kuchiki"

"Right!" He said before the sword plunged into him. There was a huge flash of light and the hollow that had reappeared a moment ago was suddenly missing an arm. Both Rukia and Hiyori looked over and saw Ichigo as he landed back in front of the hollow. He was dressed in ordinary soul reaper clothing for the most part, aside from of brown sword sheath going across his chest, but that was not what stuck out.

" Holy friken, crap!" Hiyori exclaimed out loud "Look at the size of his Zanpaktou! It's enormous! Way bigger then any I've ever seen before!"

Rukia was thinking along the same line of thought as she stared at him. Ichigo held a sword as long as he was tall. "Crap.." She said in a almost whisper of a voice. "I meant to only give him half of my power, but somehow he's taking nearly all of it!"

"Yeah", Hiyori stated, not completely paying attention to her, and instead focused on watching Ichigo. " Considering his level of spiritual power , that's not completely surprising." _Glad I didn't give him mine, that's for sure._

As Ichigo finished off the hollow with his huge Zanpaktou, the night began to fad into morning and it was clear that the lives of the three who stood there, would be changed forever.

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 2

Over the course of the next several days, many strange things happened. Rukia showed up at his school the next day as his new classmate, and bugged him till he agreed to be a substitute Soul Reaper, till her powers returned. She would supposedly get her powers back little by little while she inhabited a Gigai, a fake body that Soul Reapers and spirits used to interact with the living. He had exterminated a bug- like hollow in a park nearby the school that was after a little kid , while Rukia lectured him on needing to save every soul he came across. He soon then ran into his, sort of, friend Orihime Inoue on her way from shopping, she had almost got hit by a car but was only left with a strange bruise on her leg. She claimed she was fine and walked home by herself . Then after separating from Rukia near the end of the day he walked in his room to find the other short spirit girl Hiyori snoring on his bed.

"Hey!" Ichigo said angrily "Wake your little ass up, Hiyori!" he poked her in the side of her head, but all she did was turn over facing him, but still kept on sleeping away.

" Damn it, what do you think your.. .are you ..ARE YOU DROOLING ON MY BED?" Ichigo exclaimed out loud. He looked down and sure enough a growing puddle of drool was forming on his bed by her mouth.

"Huh.. What" Hiyori said, half asleep as she opened her eyes and looked up at him " What do you want , dumbass?"

"Right now I have a few questions, for you, snaggletooth, but first.. Sit up" He said angrily.

"What?,.. Fine" She said sitting up, and stretching her arms out. "So what do you want to know… HEY what the hell do you think your doing!" she asked, her face turning red.

"Wiping off your drool , that's all over your face." Ichigo said calmly , as he wiped her mouth with a tissue "I used to do the same thing for my sisters when they were younger, so it 's no big deal, I guess".

"ERRRR, Do I look like one of your little sisters?" Hiyori asked angrily, her face still red. " .. and who are you calling snaggletooth, Strawberry!"

"That would be you I'm calling snaggletooth…. Ehhh.. Whatever.. Now then why are you here, how'd you get in here wearing a Gigai, and are you going to be bugging me like that girl Rukia , is already? He said scowling at her.

Hiyori scowled back at him. "One, I was tired and didn't feel like going home to sleep. Two, while you did alright with the last few hollows, they were on kind on the shrimpy side compared to some hollows I've seen. She said simply, counting off the reason on her fingers as she went along " If you wanna survive against bigger, nastier, hollows , then your going need me to train you properly"

"Wait a minute.. Are you a Soul Reaper too or something?"… Ichigo asked , raising one eyebrow as he look at her, waiting for an answer.

"Well .. I was.." She said, looking almost sad or regretful. "I don't wanna talk about it , dumbass, ok ? Come on lets go!"

She walked towards his bedroom door and open it. "Well, are you going to come on so I can train you or not, strawberry dumbass!" She said looking over at him.

" Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, snaggletooth" He said, following her out his door.

They walked and walked until they came to a ordinary looking little building. Ichigo looked up at the sign above the entrance, and frowned. "What kind of shop is this?" he asked looking over at Hiyori. "How are we suppose to do training here?"

"Shut up , moron!" she yelled, smacking him in the back of his head with one of her flip flops. " Stop asking so many stupid questions! Just follow me and shut up!"

"Hey, what the hell !" Ichigo yelled at her, rubbing his sore head with one hand. "Stupid , pigtailed little snaggletooth…" He mumbled under his breath"

""What was that !" Hiyori asked, holding a flip flop in her hand again. "wanna repeat that, Ichigo?"

"Yeah" He said leaning over and smiling evilly at her " I said you're a stupid, pigtailed little snaggletooth, you got a problem with that?"

She smiled back, but not as evilly as usual. "Good,, you don't back down, I guess you are a man after all, instead of a pansy, like I thought you were. Now come on, follow me" she said, sliding opening the shop door.

The inside looked like an ordinary store, granted it was a crowded one, but there was nothing seemingly out of place as far as Ichigo could see. "Well hello there , Hiyori, what brings you to my humble little abode." said a strange man, who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

He was a tall, thin man with light, dirty blond hair. He was wearing a green robe, a thin ,black long sleeved jacket over that, green pants that matched his robe, and tall wooden sandals on his feet. This was topped off with a white and green stripped hat, that hid his eyes somewhat.

"And who is this fine young man? Your boyfriend , perhaps?" He said smiling at them.

Both Ichigo and Hiyori turned red and as Ichigo was sputtering out that he wasn't , Hiyori growled and jump-kicked the man in the face knocking him back, which left Ichigo wide-eyed and surprised at this scene.

"Well, I see you still have a lot of spunk still, huh?" The man exclaimed , laughing a bit and holding his chin, where she kicked him.

"This is Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki… he's a substitute Soul Reaper now, Kisuke" She said looking down at him. "He needs to train,"

"Substitute Soul Reaper, huh?, interesting…" He said looking at Ichigo. "Nice to meet you, I'm the owner of this little shop here, Kisuke Urahara."

"Yeah ,nice to meet ya, Mr. hat and clogs" Ichigo said looking around the shop.

"I'm flattered that you felt you come to me for help, Hiyori" Kisuke said smiling, " But how can I , a simple little shop keeper, help you and your new friend here?"

"Grrrrr!, cut the crap, Kisuke" She said to him scowling again. " We need to use the training grounds"

"Hmm.. Follow me, I'll see what I can do" Kisuke said turning around and walking towards the back of the shop. He slid open a door, and walked in, with the other two following behind.

_Training grounds? Where the hell does he keep training grounds at ?_ Ichigo thought as they walked.

They came to a stop ,Kisuke reached down to the floor and pulled open a little trap door revealing a ladder going down. "Follow me, please" He said as he climbed down.

After a few moments, all three reached the bottom and Ichigo was surprised to see vast, rocky underground area, that looked bright, like it was the middle of that day. "WOW!, look at this place!" Kisuke Exclaimed out loud . "Who would have ever guessed, that beneath my humble little shop, there was such a huge open area down here?"

No sooner then, those word left his mouth then Hiyori drop kicked Kisuke in the back of the head, sending him flying face first into the side of a nearby boulder.

"Grrrrrr… why do you always have to pull that stupid surprised act around new people, like that you dumbass!" Hiyori shrieked at him.

"Now now ,Hiyori, you really need to work on that temper of yours ,huh?" Kisuke said laughing as stood up , and turned around holding his now , bleeding nose. "Well now, now that were here, shouldn't you get more comfortable, Ichigo?"

"Comfortable?.." Ichigo asked, confused ."What do you mean?"

"He means, transform into a Soul Reaper, dumbass" Hiyori stated, frowning at Kisuke.

"Oh, right.. I knew that" Ichigo said looking at them with one eyebrow raised. " How exactly do I do that, now?, Rukia used a weird glove on me, but I don't have it , so what do we do here"

Hiyori grabbed a cane that was leaning against the ladder, and poked Ichigo in the head with the end of it, knocking him down. When he looked up, he saw his body, being held up, by Kisuke. He then looked down at himself and he once again he was in the black robes of a Soul Reaper.

"Just like that, Ichigo! Amazing, huh?" Kisuke said happily.

"Not really, MR. Hat and Clogs, this isn't the first time it's happened to me you know, " Ichigo said, looking irritated, as he stood up.

"Huh?" Kisuke, said looking at Ichigo and Hiyori "Hmm, well that's fine. Hiyori, I believe you should get changed as well, care for some help?"

"Yeah, yeah,…But I can do it myself ,you old perv" Hiyori said, pushing herself in the forehead with end of the cane, and separating herself form her body. Her body went thump as it hit the ground, on its face.

"Hey, your body," Said Ichigo, looking at Hiyori. "Shouldn't you have maybe sat down, before you did that? Your going injure your body!"

"Oh relax, I'm fine, Ichigo" Hiyori said pulling her sword out of it's sheath. "It's not a real body. It's a Gigai, I haven't had a real body in over 200 years"

"Two hundred…TWO HUNDRED YEARS!" Ichigo said loudly, " How the hell can you two hundred years old! You look like your 12 or something!"

"What did you say? 12?" She yelled out loud at him " I'm not 12, you friken moron" She ran up to him and smacked him in his face with a flip-flop as hard as she could.

"People who are Soul Reapers stay at the same age appearance they looked when they died in the real world" Kisuke said in surprisingly quite and serious voice. "Only Spirit beings who were born in the Soul Society, age in appearance, though even they live for many hundreds of years, like myself."

"Wait you're a Soul Reaper too?" Ichigo asked, still surprised, at sporting red welt on his cheek from Hiyori's Flip-flop.

"Well.. Maybe at one time I was, but that is a tale for another day, young Kurosaki., for now, practice begins" He said as he walked away. "Have fun you two!, and try to concentrate on teaching him proper skills, and not checking him out, you little perv you, hehehe"

"Sh. sh.. shut up you old goat!" Scream Hiyori, her face bright red from embarrassment. "Are you ready to begin , Ichigo?"

Hiyori looked at him with an evil smile on her still slightly red face as she readied her Zanpaktou. "I hope so, because for the next few weeks, your ass is mine"

Over the course of the next two weeks, Hiyori battled against Ichigo, night and day, as she taught him everything from properly how to wield a sword, to focusing his Spiritual Pressure into his attacks. The only time he stopped was for school and when hollows were felt nearby and he helped Rukia deal with them, that and a rather dangerous situation that occurred a few days after they began training.

Apparently, Orihime's brother Sora had become a hollow and attacked her and one of Ichigo's other close friends, Tatsuki Arisawa, a tomboy of a girl who was actually one of Ichigo's oldest friends, whom he'd known since he was quite young. Ichigo didn't actually managed to stop Sora with his blade but rather with his words, reminding him of when he was human. Because Sora remembered ,he took Ichigo's fallen sword and purified himself with it. As Ichigo learned, when a hollow was killed by a Zanpaktou, the human soul that it once was, was forgiven of it's crimes committed as a hollow and sent the Soul Society just like when a good soul, or Whole was sent there during Konso.

Rukia then used a memory replacement device on Tatsuki and Orihime so they wouldn't remember what happened, and healed there wounds, before they left.

Another strange incident happened soon after that , but his time Hiyori joined in . When another of Ichigo's friend's Sado Yasutora, better known as Chad ,received a pet bird that was cursed with having every owner it ever had, killed mysteriously. The bird turned out to have the soul of a young boy named Yuichi Shibata placed in it by a nasty hollow named Shrieker. When the hollow was human he was a serial killer who's last victim was Yuichi's mother. He promised to bring back the kid's mom if he played tag with him, leading him to souls to devour. Despite Rukia still being weak and the fact that she hadn't regained any of her Spiritual Pressure except a small sliver of it, she did hold out against the hollow for a short time. Chad soon arrived and , despite only being able to see a shimmer of a shape of the hollow, him and Rukia ,mostly held there own till Ichigo and Hiyori arrived.

With Hiyori's training, it didn't take long for him to dispatch the hollow, but something Ichigo had never seen before occurred when he did.

"What,.. What the hell is that? A door?" Ichigo asked ,as a enormous door appeared behind the hollow, that had two large skeletons on it.

As the door opened, Rukia explained what it was . " A Zanpaktou can only cleanse the sins committed by a person's soul when it was a hollow," She stated, looking over at Ichigo. "Those who did evil things while alive, are sent to another place.. Hell!"

As Ichigo watched, the doors opened and huge sword held by a equally huge hand, shot out , piercing the hollow's body and pulling it inside the doors. The doors closed, huge cracks appeared on them , and the doors shattered into nothingness.

Rukia couldn't find any trace of Yuichi's soul chain, a chain that keeps the spirit connected the body, anywhere, it was probably long gone. That meant she had no choice but to perform Konso on him.

"Don't worry, Yuichi, the Soul Society's a really great place to go to!" Rukia stated. "In fact it's a much better place then here in the world of the living!"

Hiyori scuffed at that statement " Yeah right" She muttered.

"Since when are you a expert on the real world?" Ichigo asked leaning over, towards the bird, who now in his cage. " Think of this, if you go there ,you'll be reunited with your mom, and this time it's for real"

"Ichigo…" Rukia said looking at him.

"Well then ,.." Ichigo said, pulling his massive sword out of it's sheath. "…Let's begin the Konso.."

And in a flash of light,… it was done. After which, the four of them walked home, together, until Chad said his goodbyes and went on his way. Ichigo walked to front door while Rukia and Hiyori, went to his bedroom through his window.

" Hey I'm home" Ichigo said as he walked through the door.

"Your home, Ichigo!" Yelled out his father, Isshin Kurosaki, as he tried to roundhouse Ichigo. "Ha ha! Your getting good, my son!" He said proudly as Ichigo easily ducked out of the way sent him flying into the wall.

"Yeah sure." He said as he sat down for dinner. It wasn't too hard to out fight his insane father anymore. Between going through the routine almost every day with his father and his recent training sessions with Hiyori and fighting hollows with Rukia, he could easily outdo his father.

Speaking of Hiyori and Rukia, Ichigo had pretty much gotten used to the fact that Hiyori was going to sleep in his room every night from now on. She always slept on the floor next to his bed using one of his pillows, and a spare blanket. True it was a shock when she started showing up nearly ever night to sleep there but it was even more of a surprise when he found out Rukia had been living in his closet. He'd found that out during the incident with Orihime's brother Sora, who was a hollow at the time.

This was mostly all fine and dandy, until a few nights after Hiyori started staying there, he would often find her in the middle of the night, not on the floor, but on the end of his bed , with her pillow propped up against his legs , sleeping sideways. _It's a good thing she's short, or she wouldn't fit, laying sideways like that he though, smiling slightly. _ Because even though she was usually a pain in the ass when she was awake she was a peaceful, little angel when she was asleep. Quiet, peaceful.. Even cute in a way , not that he's ever admit that to her face of course. When he'd told Kisuke that she's be better of asleep ,then awake, because then at least she was calm, and nicer to be around, he had replied

" Yeah, I used to think the same thing when I was her captain in the Soul Society. When ever I wanted to get some work done or drill my squad, I gave her some sleeping medicine" He laughed a bit, then said " But man when she found out what I had been doing, she beat me black and blue with her Soul Reaper wooden sandals. And trust me those hurt, ten times more then her flip-flops do"

"Whatever" Ichigo said, closing his eyes as he fell asleep easily.

It was early morning, and Rukia sat on the roof of Ichigo's house.

"Damn.. not much left.. It's getting harder to control…" Rukia said, looking at her hand.

"Guess I need more.." …..

Meanwhile, Ichigo had come into his room to give Rukia some breakfast after he had finished his.

"Hey!, Rukia!, I brought some breakfast, midget" Ichigo said, knocking on his closet door, where his fellow Soul Reaper had been staying. "Open up!"

"Grrr, I said breakfast is… ready?" He open the door but found no trace of her. "Where the hell did she go?"

"More food for me I guess.." Ichigo exclaimed about to bite into a piece of toast.

But before he could the plate was yanked from his hands, and he turned to find Hiyori shoveling down the food, in a rather unladylike fashion.

"Geeze.. Slow down, and chew your food, " He said looking a bit disgusted. "Your going to choke if you keep eating like that, snaggletooth."

"Try tasting the food" He said, grabbing his school bag. " Wait a minute… why aren't you eating at Hat and Clog's shop?, or where ever you lived before showing up with Rukia."

"That's none of your business, moron" She said , licking the plate, and letting out a huge burp. "Not bad, your sister can cook pretty well, to bad she got all the talent in the family, and left none for you!"

She snickered at her joke, until Ichigo smacked her in the back of the head, making her stop, and glare at him, and stick her tongue out at him.

"Whatever.." He said as he walked to his door and left for school, leaving Hiyori there to, no doubt, spend the day sleeping as usual.

Mean while, across town….A strange little girl with a sad expression on her face, black hair and two floppy bangs hanging in between her eyes boy was sweeping in front of Urahara's shop. At the same time a little boy red hair and a scowl on his face, was holding a broom and swinging it in the air.

"Batting fourth is Jinta Hanatari!" He exclaimed out loud, while the little girl near him was sweeping the ground and staring at him in a confused matter. "He takes a mighty swing… and YES ! Another homerun!"

The girl stopped sweeping and said " Jinta.. You know Tessai's going to be mad if you don't start cleaning"

Jinta turned to look at her and yelled out " Shut up Ururu!, I'll staring cleaning when I feel like it. I'm not scared of Tessai!"

"But Jinta," Ururu said staring at him with same sad expression as usual " You were scared enough to sweep in the first place"

"I don't get scared!" He shouted back. " Who do you think you are, your not the boss of me!"

He pushed on the back of her head with his broom roughly. "I'm the boss , cause I'm bigger then you!"

"But we're the same size, Jinta " She said as she crouched on the ground "Besides, I'm three years older then you are"

"So who cares about age, I'm a higher rank then you!" Jinta said angrily to her.

Suddenly, his broom was yanked from his hand and when they both turned around they found Rukia Standing there holding it. "Hmmm.. You just never change, do you little one?, So is your manger in yet?"

"Ehh.. Come on in,,,." Jinta said scowling once again.

As Jinta slid open the metal security door in front of the entrance, a tall , muscular man with black hair pulled back in a braided pony tail, large mustache, and sunglasses walk to the front of the shop , carrying large boxes. "Jinta, what are you doing?, it's too early to open up the shop." he said simply.

The doors slid open and reveled Rukia, who walked in. "Miss Kuchiki?" He said setting the boxes down, " Just give me a minute, I'll go and see if the boss is up and moving yet"

*Yawwwwn* "Don't bother, I'm already awake, for once." Said Kisuke Urahara as he walked out of a nearby room, yawning. " Good morning Tessai, Jinta, Ururu. Welcome back to my shop ,Miss Kuchiki."

Looking up he then said, " Your timing couldn't be more perfect, I just got a new shipment in the other day"

As this meeting of sorts took place, Ichigo walked into his classroom, and said his hi's, to his friends, and that's when he looked at his desk ,ad was surprised to find Hiyori of all people sitting there in his seat. "What the hell, are you going to follow me to school from now on too, Hiyori?" He said somewhat irritated.

"What?," Hiyori asked, opening one eye, " I could find a seat, and as for why I'm here it's simple, I'm keeping an eye on you, incase any, _strange_ things happen, if you catch my drift."

That's fine, but you need to another seat.. And" He said , his cheeks turning a little red, "You might want to put your legs down"

"Why the hell should I?" She asked ,scowling at him

"Well, I.. un didn't mean too look but…" He tried to say, He too a deep breath and decide to just came out and say it plainly. "Because when you sit like that I can see your dark red panties with the skulls on them"

He had never seen someone turn as red as Hiyori's face did at that moment.

And though he wasn't positive, fairly sure it match the redness of his face at that exact moment as well.

"I…I.. I'm going kick your fricken ass, you stupid perverted moron!" She yelled chasing around the classroom

"How the hell is it my fault ?," He yelled back to her. "I'm not the one who told you sit like that , haven't you ever worn a skirt before, snaggletooth?"

And this chasing continued on for some time, while Rukia was at Urahara's shop.

"So then how can I help you ? Today?" He asked her smiling lazily.

A short time later, Rukia had almost finish getting her supplies, she needed. " Look about the, Somafixer, I know this none of my business, but too much of this stuff in such a short amount of time can be toxic"

"Furthermore, if you stay in your Gigai too long, your in for a world of pain, when you finally, jump ship ,as it were" Kisuke said, in a very serious tone.

"Yes I'm aware of that, believe me," Rukia said looking at her hand. " But lately, it's just that my connection with it has grown pretty weak, it's getting a lot more difficult to move this body"

Going from serious, back to his usual laid back attitude, Kisuke asked happily " You want me to take a look at it for you? Come on I'll cut you a good deal?"

"NO THANKYOU!" She said loudly, and wide eyed.

"Fine" he said still sitting there.

"By the way, do you know if my special order came in yet?" She asked turning back towards him .

"Hmm?" He said. "Yeah it's here. You want it?"

"well duh!" She said annoyed, " Why else would I ask, can I have the product or not!"

Shortly later, she threw a small device that looked like a Pez dispenser into Ichigo's hands as they stood out side the school, during his lunch break.

"Take this, Ichigo" She said, folding her arms in front of her. "This , is a.."

"…Gikongan, or artificial soul, that separates one's soul from his or her body" Said Ichigo, looking at it in his hand. "Is this why you weren't home this morning?"

Rukia's face went slack jawed. "How.. How did …" She stuttered out " How the hell do you know about Gikongan?"

"Hmm?" Ichigo looked at her and said "Hiyori explained this to me a while ago, and furthermore…"

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a Gikongan dispenser of his own, and tossed it to Rukia, who caught it while still wide eyed about him know anything about them at all. "I already have one with me, that Hiyori got me"

Meanwhile, back inside the school, Hiyori was lounging in Ichigo's seat, and relaxing. _Damn he's taking forever, what the hell, is he making our juice bottles by hand or something. _She stood up and walked over two girls by the door who were having lunch. She looked at the clumsy, but well endowed, girl with burnt orange colored hair, and then over at the one with short, spiky black hair, sitting across from her. "Hey, jiggles, karate girl, where the fuck did Ichigo run off to?"

"Jiggles?…Asked Orihime, who held a look, of a cross between confusion and embarrassment, on her face.

"HEY!" the other girl yelled. "Her name is Orihime, and I'm Tatsuki, not karate girl" She said in a irritated voice. "And how exactly do you know Ichigo, anyway? I saw you talking to him earlier when you were sitting in his chair at the start of class."

"So are you Ichigo's girlfriend or something?" Orihime asked innocently.

Hiyori looked a little red in that face as she scream "That's,.. that's none of your business, jiggles!"

"I'll find him myself " She said as she stomped out the door, face still red as a tomato..

Back outside, Rukia looked at in surprise at the dispenser Ichigo had handed her a few moments ago.. "I've.. I've never seen a dispenser like this one before, where did she get it?"

It was normal looking until you got to the top of it, the head piece that the Gikongan came out of, had a open mouthed, hollow-like mask. "I'm not sure, and I don't really care, As long as it works." Ichigo said, taking it back from her "Besides, I thinks it a million times better then this duck one you got me, who'd want a duck anyways?"

""Oh shut up!" She said in anger, "That's not even the one I ordered!, I wanted Chappy the rabbit, but they were out!"

"So you wanted a little rabbit instead, huh?" He said looking at her strangely.

"What's that !, you did you just say?" she said angrily at him, leaning over the railing. "How dare you mock me, you imbecile! You got a problem with me liking rabbits or something!"

Rukia was about to bring foot down onto Ichigo's head when, a small hand grabbed it in midair and held it there. She looked over to find that the hand belonged to Hiyori.

"What the hell do you think your doing, Rukia?" she asked, looking at her with a mixture of anger and boredom. "And you, Ichigo, you said you were going to bring some juice back for me, why the hell are waisting your time with this moronic Soul Reaper for?"

"What?" Rukia started looking shocked that Hiyori would be so nasty to her like that. " I'll have you know that I was.."

"Oh shut.. Both of you , seriously why can't you both just get along , I mean.." A strange roar in the distance caused them to stop arguing. "A hollow" Hiyori said simply

"Yeah, looks like it" Ichigo , said popping a Gikongan pill in his mouth. " Then shall we get going you two?" He asked transforming into a Soul Reaper and walking away.

"Hey wait up, dumbass!," Hiyori said as she jumped onto his back, and holding on as he sprinted away.

""Yeah,.. Let's go " Rukia said, running to catch up, as she though to herself,_ she sure is protective of him, that's for sure. Not to mention, I still know almost nothing about her ,what she can do and her knowledge of Soul Reapers._

END OF CHAPTER 2

Thanks for reading, I'll try to write some more chapters as soon as possible , maybe in a day or 2. Anyways, please enjoy and review. Oh and before anyone says anything, I know Kon didn't show up like in the original manga/anime, but don't, I'll probably still use him eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 3

It was some time later, and early morning in the Kurosaki residence. Ichigo had, as was now a common, thing, been woken up by Hiyori jumping on him and smacking him in his face to make sure he's awake.

"Ahh!" Ichigo yelled as she once again hopped on him when he was sound asleep. "Do you have to do that every, friken morning?"

"Shut up dumbass," She said ,still sitting on him. " If you ask me, you should me thankful that I wake you up before your idiot dad does."

"Grrr.. Whatever." He said ,looking annoyed. "Just get off of me already, and leave the room so I can get dressed, will ya, you little pervert?"

Hiyori's cheeks turned a light shade of red ,as she jumped off of him. "Shut up, moron," She said looking away from him. "Hurry up and get dressed so you can bring me breakfast"

"Yeah, yeah whatever" He said light pushing her out his door. He turned around, grabbed his grey school pants, and white button up shirt. He quickly threw off his shirt, and pajama pants, and got dressed for school. All the while, he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something, but couldn't remember what.

After a few minutes, he opened the door back up and let Hiyori back in, she had apparently gotten dressed while she was waiting for him to do the same. She didn't look to happy too be wearing a button up shirt and skirt again, _but then again_, thought Ichigo, _how often DOES she look happy._ It also make him wonder wear she had gotten dressed at.. _I hope she didn't get dressed in the hallway._ He thinking of asking her, but was interrupted by foot steps outside his door, and the voice of his younger sister, Yuzu.

"Ichigo!," She yelled through the door, "Are you up yet, your going to be late!, Grab some breakfast before it gets cold!"

"Yeah I'm up! Ichigo yelled , "I'll be down in a minute, Yuzu!"

"Hey, Ichigo?" Hiyori asked, sitting in his desk chair, "Hurry up and bring me my food, already, I'm starved, damn it!"

"Yeah, relax already, I'm going." He said walking to his door.

"Yeah I'm hungry too, Ichigo" Said a voice belong to Rukia, who slid open his closet door ,fully dressed in her school uniform. "Can you bring me some toast?"

"Grrrrr…" Ichigo, scowled. "Does this look like a hotel to you two?"

"Why Ichigo,!" Said Rukia in her fake polite voice, "I would never take advantage of a friend like you, in that way"

"I would" Said Hiyori, scratching her butt." And I don't use stupid fake accents either"

""At least Hiyori's honest about it," Ichigo said opening his door. " In any case, I'll be back in few minutes with some breakfast for us"

"So why do you use that weird, fake voice in school anyway?" Hiyori asked, she walked over and grabbed a manga off Ichigo's desk and started reading it. "Seriously, just because your from a noble clan, doesn't mean you have to pretend to act like that, were not in the Seireitei, right now you know"

"What?" Rukia asked, surprised, "How do you know about me being from a noble clan? It's plain to see you are from the Soul Society, so why won't you talk about it?"

"I mean are you a renegade Soul Reaper or something?" She asked, walking over to her Hiyori, who was sitting the bed. "IF you don't wanna talk about it that's fine but.."

"That's right, I don't wanna talk about it right now." Hiyori said , looking a bit pissed. "I might have something to do with the Soul Society, but that not any of your business"

"Hey I'm back with some food you two" Ichigo said , walking through the door. "You should see the strange looks my sisters give me these days about ..all.. the food.."

"Uh.." Ichigo started, looking back in forth between Hiyori and Rukia who both had slight scowls on there faces. "Is everything alright, you two?"

"Of course it is, but school is waiting for us right?" Rukia said, in her fake school girl voice once again.

The three quickly ate and set the dishes outside the door.

"Hey!, Ichigo you there buddy?" A voice called from outside.

Ichigo looked out his window and saw his friend Mizuiro standing there with his book bag on his back.

"Yeah, sorry I'll be down in minute ok!" He yelled down.

"Yeah sure!, we got time!" Mizuiro called up to him.

"Well ,see ya at school Ichigo ," Said Rukia, climbing out the window.

"Yeah Ichigo , lets go" Hiyori said, grabbing her bag. "We should get this school crap over.. with"

"Uh, is everything alright, strawberry?" Hiyori asked, about to step out the window.

He was looking at his watch, with a grim expression on his face. "It's tomorrow.." Ichigo said in a almost whisper.

"Ichigo…?"

Tatsuki, Orihime, and another girl in the class named Michiru , a girl with short brown hair, that's pulled to one side with a hair clip were discussing their art projects. "let me see yours now, Orihime " Michiru said, handing back Tatsuki her drawing of her as the first future female Tudu champion.

"I'm glad you asked, cause secretly, I'm very proud of it!" Orihime said smiling brightly, as she showed Tatsuki and Michiru, her picture. "Check it out!"

Tatsuki and Michiru's faces vaulted as they looked at in in horror. In the picture, Orihime had drew herself with a robot body featuring tank treads, metal claws for hands and missiles where her breasts would be. " Amazing isn't it!" Orihime said happily.

"Orihime that's not what the assignment was!" Michiru said loudly.

As Tatsuki was about to comment on it as well. She saw Ichigo walk in to the room with the recently ever present short blond girl Hiyori walking behind him.

"Ichigo!" Orihime yelled out, smiling at him.

Ichigo stopped, turned his head towards her, and smiled back. "Hi!, how's it going this morning, Orihime?"

This made her freeze somewhat. Ichigo wasn't exactly ever rude to her, but he was never in this good of a mood to anyone.

Michiru was the first to say anything. "He, what's going on with Ichigo? He's never this friendly…She looked over at Orihime, " Orihime….?"

"Tatsuki?.. Orihime asked, looking concerned, "What wrong with Ichigo…?"

"Hmmm.." Tatsuki said, sitting down. "Michiru, what's today's date?"

Michiru looked down at her watch, before saying "It's June 16th, Why?"

"You know Orihime, your surprising perceptive." Tatsuki said, looking over at Ichigo, with a saddened expression on her face. "He's not happy, he's actually, quite tense right now."

"If you have anything to talk to him about, I suggest you do it now, because I almost guarantee," Tatsuki said, looking back at Orihime and Michiru, "That Ichigo won't be in school tomorrow"

This had both Rukia and Hiyori looking over at her as they listened. They both wore expressions of curiosity and concern.

Later, just before lunch, Hiyori, who had been watching Ichigo all day with concern plastered across her face instead of her usual frown, suddenly stood up and walked over to Tatsuki and Orihime's desks . Rukia watched with curiosity from nearby, wondering what she was up too.

"Hey, Uh.. Tatsuki.." a voice said.

She looked up and saw Hiyori standing there, with a downed expression on her face. "Uh , Hiyori?"

She was surprised to see she remembered her name this time. "What is it?"

"Your good friends with Ichigo right?" Hiyori asked, solemnly. "He's been acting strange all morning and since you seem to know,… I was wondering…"

"…. Wondering if you could tell me why" She asked, looking up at Tatsuki.

Up on the roof a few minutes later , when lunch hour began, sat Tatsuki, Orihime and Hiyori. Rukia had been curious but decide not to press the issue and stay in class to eat her lunch instead.

"You know what Tatsuki?" Said Orihime , looking over at her. "I've thought about it, and I think I've finally discovered the secret of Ichigo!"

"Oh really now," Said Hiyori, frowning at her. "Do tell ."

"Ichigo 's really a superhero and he's here on a mission to protect earth!" Orihime said looking happy.

Hiyori's face vaulted while Tatsuki laughed slightly. "Really, now?" she said looking up at the clouds in the sky. "So now he's a super hero."

"You gotta be friken kidding me!" Hiyori said, looking irritated.

Tatsuki took a sip of her juice box and said " The first time I met your superhero, we were both 4 years old."

"I was training at the karate dojo when he first walked in. He was holding the hand of beautiful mom, but what I noticed more then anything was his bright orange hair, and a big goofy grin plastered on his face." She bit in to her rice ball and then continued. " I knew right away that he wouldn't last long, he was skinny and looked really weak. And I was right, cause the first time we fought, Pow!, I knock him down with one good punch!.. Then he started crying like a baby, as he sat there on the floor. In fact he cried like that every time we had a match."

She smiled as she remembered It and after eating the rest of her rice ball, she spoke again.

"You know, even though he always cried like that, all it took was his mom walking in the dojo at the end of the day, to make him stop crying and get his big happy go lucky grin back. He was such a momma's boy like that, but… he seemed so happy, and it was infectious. Every time he smiled, it made me feel like smiling too, even if I was feeling grumpy that day. All it took was one look at his great big smile, to lighten my mood right up."

"Uhh.. This is fascinating and all but what the hell does this have to do with Ichigo acting so weird today ?" Hiyori asked, looking both confused and somewhat annoyed at her .

"Well you see…"Tatsuki started, her expression changing to a sad one. "Even though that's how he was in the beginning when we first met and became close friends,.. Well I was nine at the time, just like he was. But it was then ..that his mother died…."

"One day he didn't show up for dojo practice and I be came worried. I became scarred after he didn't show up at school either . When he didn't show up at school the next day, I ran out of class before school even began, and I ran through the city, desperately trying to find him,"

Orihime gasped a little and Hiyori looked at Tatsuki, and her eyes went wide. "Died?"

"Yeah….Tatsuki said closing her eyes, and looking down. "When I finally found Ichigo, he was on the bank of the river, where his mom had died, pacing back and forth. He did this all day long for days on end. I skipped school for quite a few days like he did, because I was too worried about him to care about school at that point."

"It seemed like ..he was looking for his mom or something. He looked so … depressed, I hated seeing him like that, I wish I could have though of something to make him feel better, but , what do you say to someone who just lost a parent, when there only nine years old."

Tatsuki open her eyes, and looked over at Orihime and Hiyori, who both shared sad expressions, and said " It was then, that my happy, outgoing Ichigo, that I knew and loved … disappeared forever. When his mom, died, …so did his happiness…"

Later that night, Ichigo's father Isshin Kurosaki, called a family meeting for him, Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin.

"OK!" Isshin said loudly, "Time for the family meeting! Well go over everyone's jobs for tomorrow, and remember, as chairman I have final say in all decision making!"

This meeting which ended u being a arguing match between Karin and Isshin last for quite a while .Yuzu played referee, while Ichigo just, sat there, taking it all in.

Back in Ichigo's room ,Hiyori laid on his bad staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Tatsuki had told her earlier. She felt… well, she was sure what she felt. She hadn't know Ichigo for very long, not to mention, she wasn't a touchy, feely, type of girl.

"That looked fun, Ichigo" Rukia said, happily as Ichigo walked in his room, drying off his hair from his shower.

He looked over at her and said " What did?"

"You know, your family meeting!," Rukia said to him, smiling. " So, your going to skip school, and doing a family activity, like a picnic or something , right!"

" Look, Rukia…" Ichigo said , facing away from her. " About my duties as a Soul Reaper.. I need to take tomorrow off…"

"What?" Rukia exclaimed. " No way, you can't take the day off. You've been acting strange all day, and now you spring this on me?"

"Tomorrow.. Is the anniversary.." Ichigo said, still looking away. "Of the day, my mom died."

"Ichigo…" Rukia started.

"Actually.. That's not quite true." He said turning to look at her. " It's not the day she died, but the…"

But before he could finish, Hiyori covered his mouth with her hand said "It 's not our business, Ichigo, you don't have to talk about it. So just get some sleep, and don't worry about, ok?"

"Hiyori…?" Ichigo said , surprised. "Maybe.. Maybe your right…"

He turned around and looked at her and smiled. "Thank.. Hiyori"

Rukia didn't know what to say, so she just stayed quite and soon they were all asleep soundly, though sadly, Ichigo's dreams weren't very sound at all.

The next Morning, Ichigo, Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin Kurosaki, were walking up a long, curving hill toward the cemetery. Yuzu wore a long dress, with slip on shoes, Karin had a white short sleeved shirt with a black tank top over it ,black biker shorts, a baseball cap, and sneakers. While Isshin had a white button up shirt, black dress pants, and brown loafers., he was also carrying there stuff they needed in a back pack. Finally, Ichigo had a pair of jeans, a black, long sleeved shirt under a thin short sleeved white t-shirt that said "shattered" on it.

"This hill, is really hard to walk up, it's so long!" Yuzu complained, as she walked next to Karin.

"Not for me, it isn't" Karin answered back to her, as she walked easily along.

"Oh my dearest Yuzu!" Screamed out Isshin from behind them. "You can do it sweetie!, just let daddy show you the way!"

"Look I 'm running up the hill on my hands, ha ha ha!" Isshin yelled out, insanely.

"Uh… see what you did Yuzu?" Karin said, looking annoyed, "Paying attention to guys like him, will only encourage him"

"That's not true, I don't need any encouragement, I'm self motivated!" He exclaimed.

"Quick run for it, Yuzu!" Karin said pulling her sister along quickly.

Suddenly, as Isshin sped up to race after his daughters, he stumbled and slid forward on the ground past them a ways. "Hey!' He said passing by Yuzu. "I see Polka dots!"

"AHHH!" Yuzu yelled, her face turning red.

"Stupid perverted, goat chin!" Karin yelled winding her foot back as he slid near her, "Vanish to the ends of the earth!"

She then kicked him in his head as hard as she could, sending him rolling down the hill and out of sight, all the while him laughing out as he did.

"Now we can walk in piece for a while" Yuzu said calmly, as she started walking aging ,like nothing ever happened.

"Geeze, What an idiot he is" Said Ichigo as he started walking again too. "Woo.. Man it's hot, for June… so different from, before…."

Rukia, wearing in a yellow, knee length dress and sun bonnet was about to step out on to the path to greet Ichigo, now that she heard him coming up near her. But just as she was about to start walking out of the shade, two hands reached out, grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her back in to the trees so fast and hard she ended up falling, flat on her butt.

"HEY! Who just did that..?" Rukia said as she looked behind her, "Hi.. Hiyori?"

"Rukia.." Hiyori said, looking down at her, with her arms folded across her chest. "Just what the hell do you think your doing here, following Ichigo like this?"

"I was making sure there were no hollows here, and.. Are you wearing a dress?" Rukia asked, finding it somewhat hard to believe a tomboy like Hiyori would ever be caught dead in a dress.

"Yeah, so what, you wanna make something of it?" she replied angrily.

Rukia stood up, dusted her dress off and took a good look at what Hiyori was wearing. Hiyori's dress was knee length, and Dark red with a white dragon flying diagonally upwards and black flames chasing behind it. This was topped of with a grey dragon belt hanging limply , sideways on her hips that actually belonged to Ichigo. The only familiar things she wore, were her red hair ties for her pigtails, in fact even her flip flops were replaced. Instead she had on skateboard shoes that were red with white stripes.

"Since when do you wear dresses?" Rukia asked, her eyes big in surprise.

"What?" Hiyori asked, looking even more pissed as well as a little red from embarrassment. " I never said I wouldn't wear a dress, just because I'm not fond of it!"

"Besides, this is a cemetery, you didn't think I'd show up in my track suit and flip-flops did you?"

She said looking away from Rukia. "As for why I'm here, if you must know, Ichigo asked me to come here with him ,and I told him I'd think about it."

She turned back to look at Rukia. "In any case, I don't remember him asking you to come along, so If you really wanna keep an eye on things, do it covertly then!"

Hiyori then turned back around and stomped off to find Ichigo, leaving Rukia standing there, slightly bewildered. _She really is a strange one, that's for sure… though I still don't know a lot about her, ..I think.. she's trust worthy enough. That and she seems to really care about Ichigo as much as I do, maybe…. Maybe even more . _She though, smiling.

Ichigo, his sisters, and his dad had just arrived at his mom's tombstone, and unloaded some of there stuff as prepared to say there prayers to the tombs of Ichigo and his sister's mother, Masaki Kurosaki . As Karin began to talk to mom, Hiyori walked up to Ichigo , startling him a little.

"Hiyori!" Ichigo said, looking at her. "You decide to come after all and…are you wearing a dress?"

"Damn it, I'm not explaining this dress again, you dumbass!" She yelled out at him. "I wore it cause it was appropriate for what was going on today, sheesh!"

"Well, well, well!, What have we here!" Isshin exclaimed, putting his arm around Ichigo and Hiyori. "Would you by any chance be.. My son's girlfriend and future wife!"

"Girlfriend?, Wife!" Ichigo and Hiyori both exclaimed simultaneously. "Shut you old bastard!", they yelled as they both upper cut him.

"I give it a ten for the blow, a five for distance" Said Karin, smiling as she held a scoreboard, standing next to Yuzu, who was shocked and preceded to run over and see if her father had any serious injuries.

"I say let him suffer, Yuzu" Said Karin, looking bored again.

"I think I second that motion" Replied Hiyori, standing next to Ichigo, with her arms crossed.

"So, who are you anyway?" Karin asked, as she stood up from talking to her mom's grave.

Yuzu was curious about the blond girl's identity, but thought it was rude to just come out and ask like her sister had.

"I'm Hiyori , I'm Ichigo's …friend and classmate." Hiyori Said simply as she held her foot stamped down on top on Isshin's back, since he was still on the ground laying. "I only came to the area recently and he showed me around the school and Karakura as well"

"Hmm, well then . Nice to meet ya I guess", She replied back. "I'm Ichigo's younger sister , Karin"

"And I'm Yuzu" The other girl replied, politely, as she bow to her slightly. "I'm Ichigo's other younger sister"

"And that worthless, lump of flesh on the ground under your foot.." Said Ichigo, who had been quiet for the past few minutes. "….Is our idiot of a father."

"Heeey!" Called out Isshin, form the ground staring upward. "I'm not worthless, I'm the best!"

"And furthermore, how about joining us for a Kurosaki family tradition, Hiyori.." He said grinning like a moron. "A game of tombstone dominos!"

"Please strike him down with lightning or something" Karin asked out loud, with a look of embarrassment and annoyance on her face.

"Um.. That's.. ok" Hiyori replied, trying to ignore his stupidity.

"Ohhh… Too bad!" Isshin replied. "By the way Hiyori, I approve!"

"Uh. approve of what?" She asked confused.

"Why your choice to wear red and white stripes, of course !" He replied looking up at her.

"You mean my shoes?…" She asked. Then her face turned bright red as she understood what he meant, and wasn't her shoes either.

Karin seemed to understand what he meant as well, and looked to see Isshin's face looking upward, underneath Hiyori's dress. She growled out loud and walked over to him.

"YOU STUPID,PERVERTED PIG!" Hiyori screamed, face like a cherry tomato. "I'm gonna kick your friken ass!"

She looked over at Karin, who held a look of anger , just like her. Hiyori and Karin nodded to each other, and looked down at Isshin. Ichigo swore they looked like devils at that moment as both unleashed a barrage of kicks into Isshin's sides and ribs. As they took turns, Ichigo just stood there, looking annoyed and disgusted at his father's antics, while Yuzu tried to tell them to stop, and that they were hurting dad.

High above this Rukia sat, on the edge a cliff area, and watched this with mild amusement. _Ichigo's family sure is strange. I could never imagine my family doing something like that, though it might be funny to see, especially my brother. _Looking down as Hiyori and Karin took turns kicking Ichigo's father,, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Hiyori was excepted so easily by Ichigo and his family. She was as much his friend as Hiyori was, and had spend the same amount of time with him. But even so, she could only think back to what Hiyori had told her that morning about Ichigo's mom. She would have to make a point to talk to him about it, and ask him about why he thought he was responsible for his mom's death.

Looking down at them again, she thought it could probably wait to talk to him about it, and would let him and his family do there thing for now. She stood up and looked out and the area far below her, she stood up, turned begin to walk down and maybe find Ichigo , in order to talk to him. But as she turned around, she felt a tremendous cold chill, pass through her, as felt as if she was being watched.

She looked all around her, in every direction, but saw and heard no one and nothing but some birds chirping in the trees. She even pulled out her Soul Pager, a special cell phone used by Soul Reapers to communicate with the Soul Society and track hollow in the area. But that too, showed nothing unusual near her. She shrugged her shoulders and figured, that even though she'll keep a close eye on things, there didn't seem too be anything wrong right now. She then started walking again , while closely watching around her.

Little did she know that not far a way, a strange little girl with an evil smile watched the powerless Soul Reaper with interest. "hehehe!…" the girl laughed quietly. "Not just one but two Soul Reapers , along with a few other humans with spiritual power…" She said in a normal voice as she watched Rukia walk away.

But as she spoke again, however, her voice was overlapped by a deep, rough and evil sounding voice. The two voices, one of a little girl, the other of a growling monster, spoke as one they said " Look out little Soul Reapers, I'm very hungry,… and all look very tasty…hehehe.. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Thanks for reading, and I hope once again all you readers enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to write a new chapter in another day or so, so please be patient. For those who were wondering, I'll probably be writing this story for some time, at lest through the arc where Ichigo and the others go to the Soul Society to rescue Rukia ,beyond that,.. We'll have to see.

In the mean time please, read, enjoy and review. I'll try to incorporate any good and appropriate suggestions you readers have in to the next chapters. See everyone in a few!


	4. Chapter 4

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 4

It was a short time later, and while Ichigo was praying to his mom, with Hiyori sitting nearby him, Karin was trying to get Yuzu to stop crying.

"Come on, Yuzu !" Karin said, sitting on some stairs a ways away from their mom's tombstone. "Cut it out! Your getting too big to keep crying like this every year, were practically grownups you know!"

"I know, but.." Yuzu said, only to start crying again.

"Oh well," Karin said looking away from her. "There's always next year I guess.."

Karin stood up and faced Yuzu. "Well, Come on Yuzu, let's go find old goat beard"

As they were about to leave the area, Karin noticed something strange nearby.

"Huh?" Karin exclaimed, looking down the path and seeing a young girl in a white cloak, standing on the edge of a cliff. "I wonder what she's doing there?"

"Um, who are you talking about Karin?," Yuzu asked, looking around. "There's nobody around but us"

_If Yuzu can't see her, then that means she's a spirit.. Guess I better help. Since Ichigo's busy elsewhere._

"Wait here, Yuzu" Karin said walking towards the ghost girl.

"Hey, little ghost girl." Karin said walking up to her. "How come your standing by the edge?"

"I mean , if you're a troubled sprit or something there is a priest down at a temple nearby". She said, coming to stop.

"So…," The girl said, looking down over the cliff. "You can see me?"

"Yeah, but keep it to yourself, would ya?" Karin asked. "Its kinda embarrassing."

"So you can see and hear me…" The girl said, turning towards Karin, and sporting a nasty grin. " My, my… You look so….. tasty ,… little girl.."

Karin's eyes went wide, and she broke out in a sweat. She didn't know what about to happen, but she knew it was bad…very bad.

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, TWEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Isshin was blowing on a whistle, loudly in order to get the attention of the others. Ichigo and Hiyori came running down the stairs yelling at him.

"Cut that out you stupid, goat chinned, moron!" Hiyori yelled, coming to a stop.

"Yeah!" Ichigo said, stopping by her. "You don't have to use that stupid thing to call for us!"

Isshin stopped blow the whistle and looked over at them. "Oh, there you two are." He grinned and then said "You weren't having some special alone time, when you suppose to be praying to your mom now were you?"

"Shut up , pervert!" Hiyori yelled at him with a red face. She took off one of her shoes and threw it at

Isshin as hard as she could. He looked at her and easily dodged it as he put his whistle away in his pocket.

"Ha! You'll have to do better then that, Hiyori!" Isshin said smiling at her.

"Hey," Ichigo said , cutting off Hiyori, as she was about to open her mouth, and say something back. "Karin and Yuzu aren't back yet?"

"Well duh!" Isshin responded back, "Do they look like their here to you?"

"Besides, I would have left without you" He then stated.

"Gee thanks, dad." Ichigo replied back, frowning.

"So then, you and Hiyori should go look for them that way,.." Isshin said, pointing to the right, "And I'll look right here!"

Ichigo planted his foot in his dad's face, knocking him to the ground. " Why don't you lie down and look!"

"Owwwwwww!. My chin! you split my chin!" He yelled, rolling on the ground holding his chin. "Hey…" He said, lying still, "Now I look like John Travolta, sweet!"

Both Ichigo and Hiyori thought and said the same thing, at that moment. "Moron"

Suddenly, they both felt a strange and powerful presence nearby. Both Ichigo and Hiyori looked and nodded at each other. Then they took off in a dead run back up the stairs, leaving Isshin confused.

"Huh, wonder what got into those two?" He said out loud to no one.

Close by, Yuzu was wondering why Karin was in a panic all of a sudden. "Karin?, what's the matter, lets go meet up with dad and Ichigo."

"Yuzu.. Don't.. DON'T COME OVER HERE!" Karin yelled ,not moving an inch.

"What are you?" She asked the ghost girl, nervously. "And what the hell is that thing behind you?"

"Oh." The ghost girl responded, with an wide, evil grin. " You can see that too huh?, you really are gifted aren't you!"

Nearby Rukia got another cold chill, like before, only this time, it was far more intense. _I think it's a hollow this time, I better check my Soul Pager._ Before she could even get it out though, she heard it beeping wildly. "Damn!" she said, looking down at it, " It's got immense Spirit energy, whatever it is, I better find Ichigo and Hiyori, and quickly!"

"Ichigo!, Hiyori!" Rukia yelled out as she saw them running up the stairs.

"Rukia !" Ichigo yelled back in surprise, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"No time, Ichigo, I'll explain later!" She said as the three of them began running down the path, near the stairs. "We have some kind of large, very powerful hollow nearby, we have to hurry!"

As they ran, Ichigo said "So Rukia, aren't you gonna ask."

"Would you answer me right now, if I did?" She replied back. "What ever it is, it's deeply painful,…"

"….And none of my business." She looked over at as they ran. "That being said, when you are ready to talk about it.. I'll be there to listen.."

"..Right along with me, Strawberry" Hiyori finished, flashing a toothy grin at him.

"Thanks… both of you.. My friends." He replied slowly with a tiny smile to them as they neared the hollow's presence.

Meanwhile, Karin was knocked down and sent tumbling a ways, as Yuzu ran up to her. "KARIN!"

"No… Yuzu .." Karin said weakly, "Stay back and… AGGHH!"

Behind her a powerful hollow, who was with the little girl, stepped forward and slammed one of his feet down onto Karin's back. As she screamed in pain, his masked face seemed to smile, and he pushed down harder, causing her more pain.

"KARIN…KARIN!" Yuzu screamed out. "What's happening!"

"Hmmm you have so little Spiritual power.." Replied the ghost girl, turning to Yuzu "Though I suppose you'll make a nice appetizer!"

A long tentacle shot out from the hollow just as it grabbed Yuzu, three amazing things happened in quick succession. First Ichigo , in Soul Reaper form, cut through both the tentacle and the hollow's arm, secondly, Hiyori drop kicked the ghost girl, and finally Rukia caught Yuzu and moved back out of the way. All Karin could do was lay there, wide eyed, and catch her breath, now that the hollow was no longer stepping on her.

"Ichigo …, Hiyori…?" She said quietly staring at him in his strange black robes, before she passed out.

"Grrrrr.. SOUL REAPER!" The ghost girl yelled.

"You!… "Ichigo exclaimed, looking big eyed at the little girl in front of him. "Your from when I was little. You're the little girl I saw on the river bank, Are with that hollow, Answer me!"

"Hmmm when you were little huh?…"The girl said, thinking. "Ahh!… yes ,I remember you.. I'm surprised you remember me though.."

"I'll never . .ever, forget your face!" He yelled out, "You were there,… the day my mom, DIED!'

Time seemed to freeze as he thought back and remembered.

*Flashback*

6 years before now, the same little girl was spotted by Ichigo as he and his mom walked through the rain, going home from the dojo. _Back then, I couldn't tell the difference between ordinary people and ghosts , but I wanted to help everyone I could. So when I saw the little girl standing in the rain on the edge of the river bank, I didn't hesitate to dart away from my mom's hand to try and stop the girl from jumping in. I needed to help her, I needed to help protect everyone. That's why I started going to the dojo, so I could better protect my two younger sisters. So I ran to the little girl, Yelling out to her "Hey, get away from the edge, it's dangerous, your going to fall in!"_

_The little girl looked towards me and then all I heard next was I heard my mom yell "NO! STOP ICHIGO!" Then everything went black . _

_The next thing I remember, was waking up and seeing my mom laying across me as if shielding me. I didn't know what happened… all I knew was that my mom…was dead, and that it was all my fault._

_*_End of flashback*

"So tell me, does the hollow control you,? Are you it's slave?" Ichigo yelled out . "ANWSER ME , ALREADY!"

"Neither…" She replied back.

"What…. are you?…" He asked.

Close by, Ichigo's Gikongan controlled body and Rukia, finished dragging Yuzu and Karin ,who were both unconscious, to somewhere safe. Rukia wanted to help Ichigo, but she knew that with her power still mostly gone, she wouldn't be much help. _Besides_, she thought, _Hiyori's there watching his back, so I'll just stay here and watch over his sisters for now._

"You know…" The little girl replied. "Your very lucky. Until now , no one has seen me and lived."

Suddenly, tentacle shot out of the top of the girl's head and connected the top of the head of the hollow. At the same time the girl's body seemed to turn inside out into a strange lure like object.

"What the hell is that?" Yelled out Hiyori, who until now been silent. "Wait a minute… your.."

"GRAND FISHER!" She exclaimed, falling back against a tree.

"Grand .. Who?" Ichigo asked looking over at her.

"That's.. that's what we call him" Hiyori replied, eyes still wide. "He's a powerful hollow, that disguises the lure that comes from his head, and goes after people who have enough Spiritual Pressure to see it. For humans, and ordinary souls, he just eats them, but for Soul Reapers and people with high amounts of Spiritual Pressure, he absorbs their energy and becomes stronger"

"So far, he's done this for almost 55 years now," Hiyori said to Ichigo, looking over at him. "He's one of the most well know hollows around. He's also very powerful and very dangerous, so don't underestimate him!"

"Ok Hiyori, then leave him to me" Ichigo said, gripping his sword and walking forward.

"Were you dropped on your head when you were born or something?" Hiyori yelled at him as she yanked him back. "After what I just said, you really think you'll stand a change against him?"

"Sorry Ichigo, but no mater how skilled I've trained you to be ,and no mater how much Spiritual Pressure you have, you'll never stand a chance against Grand Fisher without my help!" She said, looking irritated.

"I'm your friend aren't I?," She asked, her expression softening a bit. "Don't friends fight by the side of each other, no matter what?"

"Hiyori…" He didn't know what to say… then after a minute or so, he smiled at her. "Ok then, let's do this together,… my friend"

"Gladly" She pulled out her Gikongan dispenser, pooped a pill into her mouth and separated from her body. Now she was back in her familiar attire of a red jacket and pants with white stripes on the them, and flip-flops. She then sent her Gikongan, filled body away to find Rukia.

She pulled her Zanpaktou from it's sheath on her back and readied herself as Ichigo gripped his own sword tightly in preparation of the battle about to commence.

"So not one ,but two powerful Soul Reapers …" Grand Fisher laughed out. "What a lovely dinner I'm about to have!"

"Don't let him distract you, Ichigo!" Hiyori said, looking at him . " Well fight him just like in our practice routines, the two on one ,Hiyori/Ichigo Special tag team technique, got it?"

"Hmm?. Oh right the tag team special." He said back to her, not looking away from the hollow. "Which one first?"

"Battle attack 15, codenamed "misdirected double takedown!" She whispered over to him.

"Right!" he whispered back.

Then they darted sideways, each aiming at a tree. The hollow tried to keep an eye them both of them but couldn't, so it focused on Ichigo. Keeping an eye on only one of them, was a big mistake. They both jump on, and bounced off a tree then, using the momentum from the jump, darted toward the hollow and sliced at it before it had time too pull back far enough. Subsequently, it's other arm was now hacked off as well, this time by Hiyori's Zanpaktou.

"Ahhh!" It yelled in pain. "How did you do that, I pull myself back in time I thought!"

"It's simple," Ichigo said to the hollow, with a bit of a smug grin on his face. "That was our distraction, maneuver."

"That right Grand Fisher!" Hiyori said, her Zanpaktou dripping with blood, as she too, grinned smugly. "He distracted you with a swing of his sword and pushed you back to avoid it, so that when I swung my sword down, I was guarantied a hit!"

"Argh.. How very cleaver and effective, Soul Reapers" It said, growling pain. "But I am not an ordinary Hollow!"

Out of where it had lost one its arms, another arm grew , and shot out, at high speeds .Ichigo managed to barely, block it with his sword, but when he looked in front of him the hollow was gone from sight.

"Up there, above you, moron!" Hiyori shouted to him.

No sooner had these words left her mouth, and Ichigo looked up, then mountains of hair flew off of the hollow and wrapped around Ichigo.

"Damn it!" Hiyori yelled, as she held her hand in front of her towards the middle of the strand of hair.

"I haven't done this in a long while but… here goes nothing!" She opened her eyes, and concentrated. " Ruler!, Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south ," She pointed one hand with the other on her outstretched wrist. "Hado 31, Shakkaho: Red Flame Cannon!"

A beam of red energy shot out of her hand and disintegrated the hair in the middle area, allowing Ichigo to cut the remain hair off of himself. He yelled thanks to her as they readied them selves against whatever else it was going to throw at them.

Close by Rukia say what had happened and was about to rush and help when a strong hand gripped her shoulder and stopped her. She looked back and saw, surprisingly, Urahara standing there.

"Urahara!" Rukia exclaimed. "What are you doing here, and did you stop me from trying to help Ichigo and Hiyori?"

"Well a good evening to you too, Miss Kuchiki." He replied simply. "First of all if I had let you to over there . What exactly would you do to help them, with your low level of power?"

"Well I.." She started to say but, trailed off, knowing he was right.

"At your currently Spiritual Power level, the only thing you'd do was get in the way." Urahara said, almost sadly. "I can understand your frustration ,but you staying here is the best option."

"I guess.. " She said, looking away. "But why are you here anyway?"

Ahh!, I wondering if you were curious" He said smiling. "It's simply really, I'm here to pay my respects, to my old friend, Ichigo's mother, Masaki Kurosaki"

"You knew Ichigo's mom!" Rukia said loudly. "How ?"

"I met her shortly after she married Isshin," He said, with a look that said he was remembering something. "I continued to a friend of the family for years after, in fact I was there for the births of Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu. They both so happy, it was almost unbelievable."

"You know Ichigo's father too? And you're a friend of his family?" Rukia said, her eyes wide.

He laugh, lightly, then said "Yeah , in fact when he was real little, Ichigo used to call me uncle Hat and clogs. I guess the nick name managed to stick with him somehow, despite me using a memory replacement device on him and his sisters after Ichigo's mother died when he was nine ."

"Why would you use a memory replacement on him and his family?" She asked him, deeply confused.

"it was me and Ichigo's father , Isshin decide was best" He sad holding on to the top of his hat. "We knew Ichigo could see spirits and figured he could grow up to hate them, if he knew a bad spirit like a hollow, had killed his mom."

"Does that mean Isshin can see spirits too?" Rukia asked, looking at him. " I've never felt any Spiritual Pressure from him, mainly only Ichigo and his sister Karin, will a slight feel of it from Yuzu."

"Well he could, but at his request, I sealed the Spiritual Pressure away, from himself and Ichigo" He replies looking up at the moon. "Of course it didn't work on Ichigo very well, since he had an enormous amount of Spiritual energy, even at his young age back then. I couldn't seal it away despite my best efforts, so we let it go, with me watching over him carefully, from a distant"

"I see.." she said back to him, as she prepared to watch Ichigo and Hiyori's battle some more. She kneeled down on one knee as watched both her friends carefully. Then she had a thought .

"Well if I'm too weak to help, can't you?" She asked looking over at him again. "You'd be able to stop or kill Grand Fisher easily, right?"

Urahara though about it , then looked back at Rukia.

"While that is true, you have to remember," He said fanning himself with his little hand fan. "Even though I'm banished from the Soul Society, They allow me to operate my shop in return for a few things"

This peaked her interest a bit, so she turned her whole body, while crouching, towards Urahara. "Like what?"

"I must continue to supply Soul Reapers with Gigais, Gikongan, and anything else they might need, and one of the other stipulations, is I must never return to the Soul Society and I must not interfere with Soul Reaper duties, unless either asked to or in the case of an emergency."

He looked back at the moon now. "If I were to interfere in this battle, It's possible, they might send someone to "talk" to me about interfering too much."

He thought for a moment again and while still looking at the moon, he said. "For now their both fine, so there's no need to."

Back at the battle, things were going well for Ichigo and Hiyori, she'd watch his back and he'd watch hers. It was fine until , Ichigo said he wanted to take care of the hollow on his, own. For a moment Hiyori was confused and stopped. This is when Grand Fisher took advantage of the situation and appeared suddenly behind Hiyori.

"Take this you stupid little Soul Reaper!" He yelled as he stabbed her in her back with hid five sharp fingers.

Blood sprayed out as she fell forward on her face. "HIYORI!" Ichigo yelled out , cutting the hollow's arm off again moments after he began stabbing her.

"Arrrgh… stop doing that!" Grand fisher roared, "Stupid Soul Reaper newbie!"

Grand Fisher disappeared again, and as it was about to strike down Ichigo , before he could react and do anything, a red translucent shield appeared between him and Ichigo. This blocked his attack and pushed him back a bit.

"What ? What is that thing?" Grand Fisher yelled, to Ichigo. " Is this yours!"

"That would be a blood mist shield and it would belong to me, not Ichigo here" Said a voice.

The hollow looked over and found it's source. "It was you, huh? And who exactly are you?"

"Me? I'm no one , no one but a simple shop owner, and …." He said ,grinning at the hollow. "….. A former Soul Reaper"

"Two Soul Reapers was enough of a challenge, but three, and all very powerful…" Grand Fisher said, backing up. "Perhaps even I can bite off more then I can chew from time to time."

"That's true, Grand Fisher" Urahara said readying his unsealed Zanpaktou, Benihime in his hands. "It also might be god idea to leave now, while you still can."

"Because even though I shouldn't be interfering in this fight, you have injured one of my friends, and was about to injure another one." He looked at Grand Fisher with a menacing stare, that was very much unlike Urahara to ever show. "Leave now, or I'll cut you into bloody ribbons"

Grand fisher took one look at Urahara's powerful Zanpaktou, and jumped into the air, disappearing

without a trace. Urahara sighed, as he resealed his sword into it's walking cane form, and walked over to Ichigo, who was still on the ground.

"Mr. hat and clogs !…, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked feeling wiped out. "and.. Hiyori! Where's Hiyori!"

Relax Ichigo Rukia's already tending to her wounds" He pointed over to where Rukia had laid Hiyori down carefully and was checking on the severity of her injuries. "Now then, it's time for you to get some rest."

"What?, rest?" Ichigo said trying to sit up. "I'll be fine I don't need…" He trailed off as Urahara pinched the nerve between his shoulder and head (you know the Star trek neck pinch thing) and Ichigo only saw darkness.

It was some time later, early the next morning in fact. Ichigo's eyes shot open and he sat up looking around.

"Oh.. This is Mr. hat and clog's shop." He looked down at himself and saw his cuts and bruises wer either bandaged or completely gone. " Wait a minute… Hiyori!"

He grabbed the top of his Shihakusho and put it on as he slid open the door in a hurry. There, at a small table he saw Rukia and Urahara sitting and drinking tea. At the sound of the door opening, they both looked over and saw him standing there.

"Well good morning, young Ichigo" Said Urahara, smiling and sipping from his tea. "Glad to see your awake, care for some breakfast? I can have Ururu bring something out for you if your hungry"

"No that's… who's Ururu ?" He asked, with a surprised look on his face. "Well.. Whatever. Anyways , where's Hiyori and is she alright?"

"Relax Ichigo," Rukia said calmly ,as she bit into a piece of toast. "She's fine and resting in one of the other rooms"

"That's good, which room?" He asked, looking impatient

Urahara pointed to a room to the left. "Go right through that door, she's inside"

"Right, thanks" he said quickly, opening the door and walking inside.

He shut it behind him and walked over to Hiyori, who was lying down on the floor on a futon. "Hey, Hiyori , are you awake?" Ichigo asked, kneeling down on his knees, next to her. "Hiyori?, Come on and wake up so I know your ok."

"Errrr! Shut up dumbass!" Hiyori yelled, opening her eyes ad looking up at him. "Of course I'm fine , you moron!"

"Hiyori" He said, smiling a bit at her. " I'm glad to see you weren't hurt to badly. I'm.. I'm sorry I got you hurt like that…"

She got up, grabbed him by the top part of his Shihakusho and pushed him to the wall, making him crack the wall behind him. "Me? Your asking if I'm alright? What about you ? What the hell were you thinking, trying to take on Grand Fisher on your own?" Hiyori yelled at him loudly.

Her voice got lower, and she lowered her head down. "What if you had.. died…?"

"Died?", but I'm fine, just like you are" He said back to her , rubbing his sore head where it had hit the wall. "Hiyori?.."

He lifted her head up and saw that while she was still angry, her eyes also had tears in them. " Shut up you …moron" She said sniffling, as a few tears ran down her face. " I could have lost you .." she said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

"Hiyori, …" He said softly, as he brushed her tears off her face. " I…" he glanced down for a moment and his face went as red as a fire truck.

""What?" She asked confused. She looked down at herself and… and saw she was just wearing just a bra under her torn up jacket. Her face too quickly matched Ichigo's. "I…. you … YOU PERVERT!"

Rukia and Urahara had just finished their breakfast and tea , when they heard what sounded like smacking sounds. They looked over at the sliding door just in time to see Ichigo smash through it and land stomach down , bruised face pointed up and staring at the table they were sitting at. Hiyori stomped out of the hole looking pissed, her face red , her teeth barring and her hands clenched. She looked over at Urahara , and flames appeared in her eyes as she growled out " You Kisuke, are DEAD!"

"Uh, what's the matter Hiyori?…" Urahara asked, as he stood up began to back away, with his hands in front of him.

He darted out of the door and down the hall , with a demonic Hiyori on his tail, screaming out profanities at him.

"So you WERE the one you healed her, and took off her shirt right?" Ichigo asked Rukia, not bothering to move from his spot on the floor. "It wasn't really , hat and clogs , was it?"

Rukia didn't look up at him when she spoke. "Of course it was me, moron."

"Then should we tell Hiyori that?" He asked her, confused somewhat.

"Well I could tell her … but I think it's better not to" She said simply.

"Um.. Why?" He asked , rolling over and sitting up.

"Because Urahara's a pain in the ass.." She replied, putting down her now empty tea cup. " Beside s, this is more fun" She looked up and gave an rare , evil smile to him.

"I supposed…" He said smiling back .. "Wait, what about Yuzu , Karin and dad?" What happened to them?" He asked , remembering them now.

"Don't worry, We used memory replacement on the three of them and took them home. They'll be waking up any time now in fact, thinking that there time at the cemetery went the same as usual." Rukia replied, stretching as she stood up.

"That's good," he replied, watching the sun rise and listening to the sounds of Hiyori chasing Urahara in the back ground. It was one hell of a day, and even though he didn't get revenge for his mom, he'd get stronger and then one day, he would…

END OF CHAPTER 4

Well I hope you readers enjoy this latest chapter, and a thanks to those who have read it and reviewed it. Please keep reading and reviewing, and tell me what you like ,and what you don't. I be back with another chapter soon. Peace for now.


	5. Chapter 5

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 5

It was about a week or so later after the incident with the hollow Grand Fisher. Ichigo, Karin and Hiyori were sitting at the kitchen table drinking juice. Ichigo's family had pretty much excepted Hiyori as one of Ichigo's friends. His dad Isshin was even trying to call her his third daughter and future daughter in law a few days after she started hanging around with Ichigo's family.. This was met with a double uppercut by a red faced Ichigo and Hiyori. This left Yuzu to tend to his injuries while Karin just laughed and said he deserved it. At the present time however as they were greeting cooled off with juice, Ichigo's father and Yuzu were going crazy about one of there favorite TV shows. Ichigo looked over at the tv, frowning, and watched it for a second.

"This weeks episode of spirit hunter is coming to a close, but before we go," A short announcer with glasses yelled out to home viewers. "Here's Mr. Don Kanonji himself!

Ichigo didn't bother looking any more , but he could still hear it.

"Hey there, my baby's! I'll be back with more spirit hunting goodness, next week.. But remember…!" Don Kanonji said.

There was a pause.. and then " The spirits are always with you! ,BWA HA HA HA!"

Ichigo heard and saw his father and Yuzu joining in on the laugh, and he swore it gave him cold chills. Not that he would ever ruin his little sister's fun or anything, his dad's , yeah not Yuzu's. Hiyori and Karin on the other hand, had no problem with complaining about it out loud.

"Holy crap that show's annoying." Hiyori Exclaimed, loudly and then asked . " What the hell is up with that crappy show, anyway?"

Karin slowly sipped on her juice and then answered her, with a bored expression. "That show only appeals to people who have too much free time ,and no sense of style"

"Got that right" Ichigo said in a low voice , in agreement.

_My family seriously goes nuts, for a stupid psychic that I can't stand one bit, _Ichigo thought to himself.

And from the expressions on the faces of Hiyori and Karin, they seemed to agree with him. The next thing he heard from behind him, was the announcer stating that Spirit Hunters would be filming live in right there, in Karakura. Yuzu and their father cheered and talked excitedly about it, while Ichigo Yuzu, and Hiyori just groaned, with Ichigo smacking his head on the table. _Geeze, I'm going to bed…._

The next day at school Ichigo and Hiyori were greeted with Orihime crossing her arms and yelling out to them "BWA HA HA HA!_" _

Both Ichigo and Hiyori had wide eyes at this. "Come on Ichigo , Hiyori, that wasn't much of a reaction." Orihime said to them, uncrossing her arms. "Don't you know where that's from?"

"Uh ,Spirit Hunters?" Ichigo said to her, as Hiyori just scowled and remained quiet , standing next to him.

"Yeah! That right!, Orihime laughed out, clapping her hands. "Now then you two, lets do it together!"

She raised her arms, "Ok, and .."

"Banzai!" a voice yelled out, cutting her off. Orihime felt two hands on her wrists, and she looked behind to see Tatsuki standing there.

"Oh , hey Tatsuki!" Orihime said, smiling at her. "Did you come to join us in celebration of Spirit Hunters coming here to our town?"

"No.. now come on, let's move along here" Tatsuki said. As she slowly pushed Orihime away from Ichigo and Hiyori, "Let's go do your bwahahaha thing elsewhere."

"What ? why..?" Orihime asked as she was pushed away .

Tatsuki, nodded at Ichigo with a slight, half smile, as she pushed Orihime along. He nodded back as thanks for her stopping Orihime from annoying him with the Spirit Hunter thing. But the freedom from hearing about it didn't last very long.

"Hey Ichigo!" a voice called from behind him. He looked behind him and it was his three friends, Keigo Asano, Mizuiro Kojima and Chad.

"BWA HA HA HA!" they said to him with there arms crossed. Well Chad just crossed him arms, he didn't actually say anything, but it was implied. Ichigo and Hiyori just looked disgusted, and keep quiet.

A few minutes later, Keigo was still bothering him about Spirit Hunter.

"What ?" Keigo yelled at him. "What do you mean you don't wanna go to the live taping!"

"If you don't go, you'd be know as the only loser in town who didn't go! I don't wanna be friends with a loser!" He cried out.

"Like I care…" Ichigo said, frowning at Keigo. He walked to the open window and looked out, while leaning on the window ledge.

"But you'd have to be dead not to want and go!" Keigo said to him, in a whiny voice.

"Well then, I guess that makes me a zombie, huh?" Ichigo replies, not looking at him.

"Uhh…!" Hiyori growled out. She turned to Ichigo, while sitting on top of a desk and asked. " Hey, dumbass?, any chance you could bite me and make me a zombie too, so I don't have to go to this stupid spirit thing?"

"I think that only works for vampires, actually." He replied, looking over at her.

"Hey you too!, stop ignoring me!" Keigo yelled out to them, waving his arms wildly.

"I can't believe you don't wanna go,.." He said, fake tears ruing from his eyes. "And after I went to the trouble… of asking Rukia to go!"

Ichigo turned around and saw Rukia standing there, with a big, fake smile on her face. "Why hello there Ichigo, and Hiyori!" She said ,in her fake school girl voice she loved to use.

_She's becoming quite the little actress, isn't she?…_ Ichigo thought.

"Come on, Rukia, do it with me now… go bwa ha ha ha!…"Keigo asked , crossing his arms.

Rukia made herself blush, and said "Oh no, I could never do that, I'd be much too embarrassed..!"

Hiyori seemed to read Ichigo's mind at that moment , cause she replied. "She getting quite good with that crap huh?"

"Yeah , pretty much" He said back to her, in a bored tone. " You know, I'll be glad when this Spirit Hunter crap comes and goes already, that's for sure"

The following Wednesday… the live taping of Spirit Hunter had finally arrived. Now despite earlier protests, Ichigo and Hiyori were there, waiting for the show to begin. 'Hey Ichigo!" a female voice called to him, He turned his head and saw Orihime standing there, in a casual ,long sleeved dress.

"Oh, hey Orihime." Ichigo replied with a small wave.

"Listen Ichigo, I'm.. I'm sorry about bugging you the other day with the Spirit Hunter chant.. If I had known how much you hated this type of thing, I wouldn't have done it, sorry." She said, looking a bit down.

"Hmm? Ehh ,Don't worry so much about it Orihime, it's not a big of deal." He said, scratching the top of his nose.

"Well Tatsuki told me how much you hated this stuff….. But the others seem to know this too, so why do they still do it?" She asked him.

"They just like to bug him" Hiyori said, as she chomped down on some MitarashiDango_. _

"But. Even so, you still came.. Why?" Orihime asked, sharing the dango with Hiyori, who was being somewhat greedy with it.

"My sister Yuzu goes nuts for this type of thing, and especially Spirit Hunters." He replied, pointing over to his sisters and his dad. "Yuzu asked me to come with her, and couldn't exactly disappoint her, by not coming along."

Orihime blushed a little and looked away slightly. "I see, that's very sweet of you to do"

Ichigo looked at her in surprise. "Really? I though was a normal thing to do.."

"Maybe.." She said , lifting her head up.

"Hey Orihime ! Come on or you'll get left behind!" Tatsuki called out to her , from the moving crowd.

"Right, I'm coming Tatsuki!, wait up!" She yelled back. "Well I'll see you later Ichigo, .. And it was nice seeing you again too Hiyori, thanks for the dango!, Bye!"

She ran off to catch up with Tatsuki, leaving Ichigo and Hiyori there standing. " Hey Ichigo, Hiyori!"

He heard Rukia call out to him from behind him. He turned around and there was Rukia with arms crossed. "BWA HAHAHA!" She called out to them happily.

_NOT YOU TOO! _He though to himself, feeling both annoyed and surprised. Both him and Hiyori looked slightly annoyed by Rukia's act.

"Hey, what's with you two? Why the faces?" She asked the, arms still crossed .

"Oh shut up Rukia!" Hiyori yelled out biting in to her dango fiercely.

"Yeah ,this is how are faces always look, sheesh!" Ichigo said, grabbing a piece of dango from Hiyori's platter., and despite her anger at Orihime taking some earlier, she either didn't notice or didn't care when Ichigo took a piece.

"Honestly, between your work as a Soul Reapers and school , you two should probably relax a bit while you can." Rukia Said, looking out in to the crowd.

_Rukia.. She actually cares about me and Hiyori that much huh?.. _Ichigo though, while smiling ever so slightly.

"By the way Ichigo , Hiyori.." Rukia said , turning back to them. "Could either of you two tell me what this festival thing is all about?"

_YOU CAME HERE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT'S ABOUT?_ Ichigo and Hiyori thought simultaneously.

A few minutes later after Ichigo tried to explain to Rukia what it was about, he began to wonder about the old hospital in front of him that was supposedly haunted. "Hey Rukia, is there really a ghost at this hospital?"

"I mean , wouldn't a Soul Reaper have dealt with a spirit if it was here?" He asked , glancing over at her, as he waited for the show to begin.

"Well not if it was a Jibaku spirit" she replied looking up at the stage

He looked over at her, confused about that term. "What's a Jibaku?"

Before she could answer though, Hiyori jumped off of the railing she was sitting on, and said in an bored tone, "A Jibaku is a spirit that is tied to a place or object by deep feelings of regret. It will also become a prime target of a hollow, because of it being tied down by it's chain of fate. In fact a Jibaku spirit is also known as a demi-hollow."

"That's right," Rukia said, nodding to her in agreement . " It's easier for a Jibaku to become a hollow then other spirits, due to it's chain holding it in one place, but also because of he or she already having an emptiness inside their heart, deeply formed, just like a hollow does."

"But besides all that, Jibaku spirits can hide themselves in the earth and make it difficult for Soul Reapers to find. The only way a Jibaku might show his or herself, is if someone intrudes on what they consider to be there territory." Rukia said , moving to the side as a technician walked by, carrying a light to the stage.

As the stage help set up the light, he bumped into the building, when he did a loud terrifying roar pierced the night, startling Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori.

Nearby Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima were standing in the crowd, with Keigo practicing the Spirit Hunter chant .

" Cut it out Mr. Asano, it's embarrassing. There all moving away to find better vantage points for when the show starts." Said Mizuiro, looking through his phone.

"Stop calling me Mr. Asano! And why do we have to stop anyway?" Keigo asked him, whining.

"Because we only do it to bug Ichigo and he's elsewhere in this crowd, so there's no point of doing it" He replied, not looking up from his phone.

"Yeah well…HEY LOOK!" Keigo shouted at him in a loud whisper, as he pointed to the far right. "Those two older hot chicks, are totally checking us out!"

The girls walked over and looked at Mizuiro. "Hey there cutie, you wanna come and do the spirit chant with us?" One of the girls asked, blushing.

"Please say you will!" the other girl said., holding her hands together, and blushing as well.

"Well I don't know maybe you could teach me how?" Mizuiro asked as he walked away with a girl on each arm, leaving Keigo alone and crying on the ground.

"IT'S NOT FAIR, WHY DOES HE GET ALL THE GIRLS!" Keigo yelled out.

As he was whining, he looked up and saw Chad standing there. He stopped , like someone turned off a switch, and stood up next to him "Hey, what's up Chad?" he asked, dusting himself off.

"Did you… hear something…like a roar ..or something?.." Chad asked in his usual calm and slow speaking voice.

"What?" Keigo asked, nervously. "Stop that Chad, your freaking me out dude. Your probably just imagining it or something. This is a spooky old hospital, after all." he said, looking over at it.

There was another roar, that made Chad sweat somewhat as he said. "Yeah.. Your probably right….. Forget I said anything."

"So are you two sure that's not a hollow?, cause it sure as hell sounds like one." Ichigo said, looking around, trying to find the source of the sound, while Hiyori kept poking her finger in his ear to irritate him. "Stop it." He said, in a bored voice, while absently swatting her hand away.

"Trust us, it's definitely a Jibaku spirit Ichigo, and it appears to tied to this hospital for some reason." Rukia said to him, and then pointed. "Look ,there it is now, the Jibaku!"

Close by Yuzu and Isshin Kurosaki were excited and waiting for the show, which was about to begin.

"Ah man.. I shouldn't have come her" said Karin, looking sick.

"Hey, Karin, what's wrong? You ok?" Isshin asked, looking over her.

She looked away from her dad, and said " It nothing.."

But truth was, she wasn't feeling well at all. _All that screaming by that thing is making sick.. My stomach is killing me right now… maybe I should go home and sleep._

She looked around and saw Ichigo wasn't there near them any more. _Hmm if I'm feeling like this, I wonder how Ichigo's feeling right now, where ever he's at right now, that is._

But Karin wasn't the only one not feeling good, Tatsuki and Orihime also heard the scream and felt kind of sick as well.

Nearby , Ichigo said to Rukia and Hiyori " It feels like a hollow, ..but it's not wearing one of those white masks and it's hole in it's middle hasn't opened up all the way yet."

"That's right ,Ichigo Rukia said ,starring at the Jibaku. "the hole on a hollow, means it lost it's heart and conscience. All that's left is raw instinct."

And that mask is all that shields it from the world" Replied Hiyori, who had walked up and stood next to Ichigo. "If you have a heart, then neither is necessary. As for the chain of fate, you've seen it before , on other spirits. Everyone has one, it ties the spirit to the physical body, and when you die, it's severed."

Rukia nodded to her, and finished up where Hiyori left off. " When the spirit is ready to move on it's chain is left alone, but it anchors the spirits with regret to places like this one is."

As the Jibaku ranted on about how the hospital belonged to him, the show's announcer said on the loud speaker, " Please, calm down and get ready everyone, the shows about to begin."

"Annnnnnd.. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, tonight's Spirit Hunter comes at you live from an abandoned hospital , courtesy of the town of Karakura!"

"And now ,without further ado, here he is,… this century's premier spiritualist and messenger from hell himself.. Mr. DON KANONJI!"

High above the crowd, a helicopter hovered, one of the doors on it opened, and out jumped Don Kanonji. "Hey down there, how are my babies doing tonight?"

The crowd cheered while Ichigo, and Hiyori just frowned. Rukia joined in with the crowd and despite not completely knowing what was going on, seemed to enjoy it as much as everyone else.

"Remember , my Babies." Don Kanonji yelled into his microphone clipped to his shirt. "The spirits are always with you! BWA HAHAHA !"

Rukia and almost everyone else yelled the spirit chant back, while Ichigo and Hiyori just plugged there ears in annoyance. Don Kanonji then opened a parachute and soon landed safely on the stage He was a tall man with tanned skin, hair in dreadlocks a thin moustache, and was wearing sunglasses. He had a strange black and blue outfit with shoulder pads and a cape. "I will be ready in just a moment folks!" he yelled out with a grin.

Even though Don Kanonji was annoying in Hiyori's eyes, she still wanted to see what was happening, but with her being incredibly short, she couldn't see a thing. Then she looked over and got an idea from watching Isshin giving Yuzu a piggy back ride so she could see better. She grinned evilly yet also blushed slightly as she reached up and smacked Ichigo. "Hey, Dumbass." She said ,looking up at him.

Ichigo growled lightly, but still turned and looked down at her. "Yeah what?" he asked.

"Give me… a piggy back ride." She said, turning her face, so he couldn't see the slight blush forming on her cheeks. "I can't seen anything."

"And why should I?" He asked , raising one eyebrow. "I though you didn't like this crap anymore then I do?"

"I don't really care about it" She said to him , turning back to look at him. "But I …. I still wanna know what's going on with that Jibaku over there !"

"Now crouch down do I can get on your back." She said ,looking away again. "For your information I'm only about four feet ,four inches tall, and I can't see over anyone here, even Rukia's taller then me by a bit."

"Well I.." started to say.

"Please?" she said , cutting off whatever he was going to say, as she looked at the ground .

_Since when does she say please to anyone? _Ichigo thought to himself, looking at her._ Then again, I've done it for both Yuzu and Karin before so…_

"Fine," He said, crouching down and putting his arms in position. "Go ahead and get on, Hiyori"

"Right" Hiyori said, somewhat nervously. She got onto his back and felt his hands hold onto her legs, under her knees, where they bent. She blushed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and carefully held onto him as he stood up.

"You comfortable there, Hiyori?" Ichigo asked, looking back .

Her response was a small yes. She was glad it was somewhat dark out so it would hide her blush. _Damn, what the hell is wrong with me? I'm not a little girl, so why am I acting like a have a … what's that term?… oh yeah, a schoolgirl crush.. on a human like Ichigo? So friken annoying… _"Stupid feelings" She muttered, to herself.

"What was that?, you say something back there?" Ichigo asked her.

"WHAT? NO !.. I didn't say anything dumbass, just shut up" She said, still blushing again, as she tried to hide her face .

Rukia saw this and smiled slightly. She had figured some time ago that Hiyori might have a small crush on Ichigo and she was right. _Hmm.. She obviously feels strongly for him.. How do I feel about him though?… _she felt herself start to blush slightly, but pushed it down as Don Kanonji began.

"You know that Jibaka thing … or what ever you call it ,is really annoying" Ichigo said frowning as got a better grip on Hiyori's legs. "Should we Konso it or whatever?"

"No, it take months for it to transform into a full hollow," Rukia replied, looking at him. "We'll do it later after all the people clear out, so the Jibaku isn't irritated."

Don Kanonji started up again and said "Oooh! I sense a strong spirit, nearby, and it's really dangerous. .. You know what that means folks…"

Together with almost everyone in the crowd he yelled out " IT SMELLS LIKE BAD SPIRIT!"

"Stop worrying so much, moron!" Hiyori said, resting her chin on his shoulder, slightly. "When a Jibaku becomes a hollow it's pain filled screams, fill the night and are enough to curdle anyone's blood."

"She's right, Ichigo, judging by the size of it's hole, I'd say it has at least 5 or 6 months till it becomes a hollow." Rukia said, watching Don Kanonji, "I already said we'd take care of when this is done, anyway."

"Ok my baby's this is one bad spirit," Don Kanonji said out loud. "That means I'll have to finish it off quickly, with my patented Super Sprit Cane!"

He pulled out and whirled around, a strangely decorated cane, that looked like it had wings on it. Before anyone could even blink, he moved the cane forward quickly…. And into the opening on the hollow's chest.

"Oh no!" Rukia said, loudly and wide eyed.

"What the hell is that jackass doing?" Hiyori yelled, looking over Ichigo's shoulder.

"Whoa! Don Kanonji is already using his Sprit cane!" The announcer yelled on his microphone. "This is an usual move for him to be using so early on!"

"We have to stop, now!" Rukia yelled out, "Before he turns that Jibaku into a hollow right now!"

Without thinking, Ichigo crouches down and says " Hiyori, hop off "

"What? Why?, what are you going to do?" Hiyori asks, him as she quickly gets off of him.

"I'm going to stop him, that's what." he says, fiercely.

And before anyone can say anything else, he darts over the rope, separating the crowd from the stage.

"Hey! Stop that !" he yells to Don Kanonji, as runs toward him. Not moments later, a group of security guards jump on him, stopping him from moving.

"Get the hell off him you jerks!" Hiyori yells, landing a flying drop kick in one of the security guards face, before she too is grabbed.

Rukia is blocked from even going inside the rope and can't help either. She yells out to Ichigo and Hiyori, but it's useless. They both struggle in the security guards grip, and neither can reach their Gikongan to change into Soul Reapers. Mean while Don Kanonji continues to open the hole on the hollow more and more.

"NO! damn it, Let me go!" Ichigo yells.

Then suddenly, both Ichigo and Hiyori are tapped in the back of their heads, and are separated from their bodies and hit the ground rolling in Soul Reaper form.

"Who the hell did that?" Ichigo said out loud, as he helped Hiyori stand up.

He looked over and saw the source of there freedom, it was Kisuke Urahara sanding there, grinning like a moron and waving his fan at them. "Hey there Ichigo , Hiyori!" He called out.

"Kisuke!" Hiyori yelled as Ichigo stared at him for a moment.

"Mr. Hat and Clogs?, Tessai!" Ichigo exclaimed in surprise. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"We can have some tea and chat later Ichigo, Hiyori" Kisuke said ,still smiling. "For now you two should get going, right?"

"Oh yeah!, come on Hiyori" He said running off.

"What are you up Kisuke? Rukia asked, looking over at him, with one eyebrow raised.

"Me? A humble shop owner, up to some?" He said laughing. " Why nothing, I was just in the neighborhood, that's all!"

"Oh before I forget, Tessai, would you do me a favor and retrieve Ichigo and Hiyori's bodies from those security guards?" Urahara asked his big friend , who was standing next to him.

"Of course boss," Tessai replied, who walked over and then proceeded to easily pluck Ichigo and Hiyori's bodies from the security guards hands.

"I'll take those, thank you" he said. as he put each of them over one of his shoulders and carried them back to Urahara before the guards could even react.

Meanwhile, Ichigo and Hiyori rushed at and knocked down Don Kanonji. But when they looked up , the hole had completely opened in the hollow's chest. The Jibaku screamed at the top of it's lungs in pain, while Hiyori and Ichigo, who were now powerless to do anything in order to stop it from changing, just stood there wide eyed.

From the sidelines Rukia dropped to her knees, in shock " OH NO!,… They were too late…"

"Well now ," Urahara , said, in a suddenly serious tone. "I do believe… we have a problem."

End of Chapter 5

What happens next? Find out in a few days, in the chapter for reading , I hope you all enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think, see ya in a few, Peace!


	6. Chapter 6

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 6

"Damn it, They were too late!" Rukia said , now on her knees in shock of this development.

"This all the fault of that stupid don ko.. something or other.. The Spirit Hunter man." Rukia she, as clutched her fist close in anger.

"True .. But I suspect he didn't know exactly what he was doing…" Said Urahara, looking down at her. "For now, Ichigo and Hiyori can deal with the hollow that will be created out of that Jibaku.."

Tessai, who was holding Hiyori's Gigai, and Ichigo's body, walked over to Urahara and Rukia. "But that's not the real problem here, is it boss?" Tessai asked, as he got a better grip on the two currently soulless bodies.

"Right as usual , old friend." Urahara replied, looking up at the moon. "Although it's only a remote possibility, ..other hollows might be attracted to the area. And with Ichigo and Hiyori about to be occupied, a lot of souls could be placed in jeopardy."

As if by fate, not moments after he spoke those words, a number of shrieks, roars, and howls sounded from close by. Urahara pulled a Soul Pager out, from inside his robe and looked at it carefully.

"looks like I jinxed it, huh?" Urahara said grinning, as he pushed a few buttons on the phone device.

"How bad is it boss?" Tessai asked, from Urahara's right.

Urahara turned his head, and said " It looks like about 6 hollows are near here. Fortunately, they appear to relative small fries, and shouldn't be much of a problem for us"

"Well then, we should get to it, right?," Said Rukia, standing up, eyes somewhat narrowed.

"Huh? Well you aren't getting to anything, except, stay here, till we get back, Miss Kuchiki." Urahara said, as he put his Soul Pager away. "And no arguments, this time either. You have no way to fight hollows right now, and Ichigo and Hiyori need someone to keep an eye of there bodies till they deal with this situation."

"But.." Rukia started to say. She closed her mouth however, as she knew Urahara could easily use a binding spell on her if she didn't cooperate. She slouched her shoulders and said. "Fine,.. good luck, Kisuke ,Tessai."

As Urahara gave her a small nod and starting walking off with Tessai, he called out "Hey Ururu!, help miss Kuchiki watch those bodies will you , sweetie?, thanks"

Ururu seemed to appear out of nowhere, and walked up to Rukia. "Yes, Mr. Kisuke" She said as she came to a stop my Rukia. "Hello again, miss Rukia" She said, with a small bow.

"Oh, um hello, Ururu, what are you doing here?" Rukia asked, looking at the small girl in front of her.

"Mr. Kisuke wanted to keep an eye on things here and he let me come along with him and Mr. Tessai"

Ururu replied to her , with a small smile.

"I see,…. well I hope Ichigo and Hiyori will be alright." Rukia said, looking over at the hospital.

"Don't worry, miss Rukia, I'm sure they'll be fine…"

Meanwhile, The Jibaku spirit had screamed in pain and seemingly disappeared in a flash of light.

"Huh? What just happened?" Ichigo said, lowering his Zanpaktou, in confusion. "Hey, Hiyori ,I though it was supposed to become a hollow, not vanish."

Hiyori , walked over by him, as she looked over at Don Kanonji, who was yelling out victory to the audience. She scowled at him , then turned to Ichigo and said. " Any spirit that becomes a hollow first vanishes from sight, and it's body reforms as a hollow in another dimension, before returning near the area where it was turned to begin with ."

A strange sound from the roof above had Ichigo, Hiyori and Don Kanonji looking upward. A small glowed appeared and a hollow begin to grow itself, from the feet upward, until a hollow that resembled a frog sat there. White liquid shot out from its mouth and eyes as it screamed, and it flowed around its head forming a white frog head shaped mask.

"Woah! What the heck is that, you two spirits kids know?" Don Kanonji said, looking at it in surprise. "I bet it's the other evil spirit's master!"

"It's not it's master its'.. wait you can actually see us in this form"? Ichigo said blinking rapidly in surprise. "I guess you do have some spiritual energy, after all."

"If you two are here to help me defeat this evil spirit, then come!, let do it together!" Don Kanonji yelled out, as he walked closer to the hospital.

"Oh no you don't! you've caused enough friken problems tonight as it is!" Hiyori said angrily , pointing her hands towards him. " Carriage of Thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel, with light, divide this into six!, Bakudo number 61, Rikujokoro!"

Abeam of yellow light shot out of Hiyori's fingertips and shot at Don Kanonji. They THEN separated into six beams and hit him from all sides, freezing him in his tracks.

"Hey what are you doing, are you a bad spirit too?" He yelled , unable to move.

"What the heck is that ?" Ichigo asked, watching the hollow, who seemed to be getting used to its changed body.

"Rikujokoro , other wise known as the six rod light restraint ." Hiyori said, also watching the hollow. " It's a binding Kido spell that will hold this dumbass here, while we take care of the hollow."

"I want ..SOULS! The Hollow above roared out suddenly , jumping down towards them.

"Damn" Ichigo said , barely having enough time to hold up his Zanpaktou and block him and Hiyori from the hollow, who bit into the sword. "Get of my sword, frog face!" he yelled, sending the hollow tumbling away.

The hollow jumped up onto the side of the building and started climbing up. "Damn come on, Ichigo!" Hiyori yelled, pulling him along with her.

"…And this is supposed to be my show…" Don Kanonji said sadly, as he watched them run off.

As Ichigo and Hiyori Put there swords away and ran inside to get to the stairs leading to the roof, Karin went wide eyed in fear , and confusion at what she had just seen.

"Ichigo.. Hiyori?… she whispered out, seemingly frozen in place. Nearby her, Orihime and Tatsuki were also frozen in place, having also seen Ichigo, dressed in black robes and fighting a monster with the blond girl Hiyori. They couldn't help but think it somehow looked familiar though and hoped that Ichigo and Hiyori would be okay. Chad, who was elsewhere in the crowd, saw only a few strange blurry shapes, just like when he had been involved in the incident with the talking bird, Yuichi, sometime before .

Hiyori and Ichigo slammed open the door to the roof, and ran out looking around for the hollow. Ichigo and Hiyori pulled their swords out of their sheaths again , and moved back to back.

"Hey snaggletooth, it's not here!" Ichigo called behind him.

Hiyori, looked over her shoulder at him and growled at him. Then she said "Well don't ask me, I thought it came up here too, dumbass!"

They then heard crunching sounds, from the left ,and the frog hollow, pulled itself up onto the roof. It looked the Soul Reapers, and hollowed at them, "GIVE ME YOUR SOULS!, I NEED SOULS!"

It opened it's mouth and shot out a green sticky slime, hitting Ichigo and making his sword stuck in his hands. "What the hell is this gunk? It won't come off!" Ichigo yelled swinging his sword around wildly in an futile attempt to get the slime off.

"Stupid friken hollow!" Hiyori screamed, slashing at the hollow and slicing in to it's shoulder.

It reeled back in pain ,and shot it's tongue out ,knocking her to the side and painfully into the wall nearby. She slammed into it hard, and was knocked out on impact, slumping down.

"Hiyori!" Ichigo yelled out, trying to get to her.

The hollow swung at him and he moved back, dodging it's attack. But he knew he would last long on his own with his hands like they were. The hollow attacked again ,knocked him back. It brought it's powerful jaws done preparing to bite into him when something stopped it. Ichigo opened his eyes, which were closed, and saw a strange cane holding the jaws of the hollow open. He looked and saw Don Kanonji standing there, grinning.

"You alright boy?" He asked, holding the cane in the hollow's mouth as it struggled to get free. " I'm sorry I couldn't get up here sooner, if I had I could stopped your girlfriend spirit there from being hurt"

"Well I.. HEY! She's not my girlfriend,! She just a friend ok? that's it" Ichigo yelled out at him, his face bright red.

"By the way, how the heck did you brake free anyway?" Ichigo asked him, trying again to break out of the slime.

"Simple boy.. I'm Don Kanonji, Boy!" He yelled out to him simply as the cane began to crack under the pressure of the hollow's jaws.

"Damn it's not much time before it breaks completely" Don Kanonji whispered out. He turned to Ichigo. " Ok, hold on boy!"

He raised one of his hands and pointed at Ichigo. They glowed as a small energy ball formed. "OHHHHH!.. KANONJI STYLE, SECREAT TECHNIQUE! ….KANNONBALL!"

Ichigo watched with a strange look on his face as the ball shot off Don Kanonji's hand and slowly flew towards him. It soon came in contact with the hardend slime on Ichigo's hands and for a moment nothing happened ,Ichigo seemed not to be surprised at it's failure though,.. Then, it exploded , breaking the slime away and sliding Ichigo to slide back a few feet, looking surprised.

The hollow finally snapped through the cane, and jumped at Ichigo, who quickly ducked to the right. The hollow was momentarily thrown off balance and he used this opportunity to strike. He brought his huge sword downward, and sliced through the hollow's mask.

"Alright, you did it spiky haired spirit boy!" Don Kanonji said, catching his breath, from using a lot of sprit energy.

"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you …" Ichigo said solemnly as he walked over to Hiyori, who was still unconscious and a bit of blood running down her face.

"Huh? What do you mean…" Don Kanonji started to say.

As he watched, the white mask and skin dissolved away. As it sis, he got quite a shock, when he saw the spirit from earlier, laying there. Don Kanonji dropped to his knees as he said "I..I don't understand…"

As Ichigo picked up Hiyori and held her bridal style, he looked over at Don Kanonji.

"You didn't set the spirit free before, what you did was cause it to become what's called a hollow. When you opened it'd hole, you destroyed the chain of fate,… without its chain holding it here, it gave in to it's grief and despair, … and became a monster devoid of conscience, a hollow."

Ichigo walked away with Hiyori, as Don Kanonji said " I can't thank you enough for opening my eyes tonight, spirit boy. In the future, would it be alright if you lent me your power again?"

Ichigo stopped briefly, looked over at him and smiled a little. "Well…. Sure as long as it's not too

often."

Don Kanonji rose to his feet and looked at Ichigo. He grinned and said " Then from now on you'll will be…. My number 1 disciple!"

_Huh?… THAT'S A DEMOTION!" _He though, feeling surprised and annoyed_._

Down below in the audience, Urahara and Tessai , had returned from killing the hollows and saw what transpired on the roof. Urahara smiled, and walked over to Rukia and Ururu, greeting them. _I guess everything_ _turned out okay afterall… _He thought as Ichigo emerged from the entrance with Don Kanonji, carrying Hiyori in his arms.

Don Kanonji gave Ichigo a salute and then went to address his audience. Ichigo meanwhile, came to a stop in front of Urahara, Tessai, Rukia, Ururu and carefully set Hiyori down, so Tessai could heal her.

"So everything go ok, Ichigo ?" Rukia asked, looking down at Hiyori. "Well besides her getting hurt, I mean."

"Yeah pretty much." Ichigo said, watching Tessai heal Hiyori's head wound. "It's messed up, I couldn't stop Hiyori from getting hurt…. But,… at least Kanonji promised to stop exercising spirits like that, from now on"

"Yes indeed , you and your girlfriend Hiyori, did very well, young Ichigo" Urahara, said smiling slyly, while he hid part of his face with a hand fan.

Ichigo turned bright red and as he yelled " How many times, to how many people, do I have to say this too… SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

He then preceded to cracked Urahara in the face, making his nose bleed, and went to get back into his body. It had been one hell of a night for time all of them, but at that moment, all Ichigo wanted to do…. Was sleep.

It was the next day at school, and Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo were lined up and standing in the principals office at Karakura High School, getting chewed out by the gym teacher, Mr. Kagine. He was a large muscular man with his black hair in a crew cut, a small thin mustache, long sideburns, a tank top that said "gold medal" on it and simple pants. He was standing there , trying to intimidate them.

"UNBELEIVEABLE!" Mr. Kagine, yelled at them. "Do you eight, have any idea what you've done!"

He turned towards a projection screen, and turned it on with a remote he held. "Take a look at this!" he said, pointing to the screen with showed footage of Ichigo and Hiyori being grabbed by security guards and fighting with them, while Rukia was yelling at them and trying to get over the rope gate.

"This footage was broadcast across not only, Karakura,.. BUT ALL OF JAPAN!" He yelled to them as he walked over to Ichigo and Hiyori, and stared at them.

"You there , Mr. Kurosaki, Miss. Sarugaki. As the ones who caused the problems, " Mr. Kagine said angrily, to them. "What do you two have to say for yourselve's?"

Ichigo answered first, with a slightly nervous face. "They …uh , look a lot… like us."

"Yeah, must be our long lost twins or something." Hiyori replied to the teacher, in a sarcastic tone . She looked up at the gym teacher after speaking… and said nastily "You got staring problem or are you trying to check me out?"

The teacher went red in the face from embarrassment and anger, and he started yelling at her about how she was completely wrong , while she just yawned, and stood there, not listening.

"Um, Mr. Kagine?" Said Tatsuki, who was standing next to Orihime. "I can understand why Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia are in trouble, but why the heck are Orihime and I here?"

He looked over at her and thought for a moment before answering her. "Well, you were there with them when it happened right?" He said to her raising one eyebrow.

"That was just a coincidence," She said closing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips. "We just happened to run into Ichigo,Hoyori and Rukia when we were walking to check out the event. We had nothing to do with their idiocy."

"Your just trying to save your own butt, Tatsuki, your traitor" Ichigo said to her,frowning .

Her reply was pull the bottom of her eye lid down and stick out her tongue at him, while Orihime tried to get her to stop. After a moment she did stop and grabbed Orihime's hand so she could pull to the door.

"Well then since that's what happened, we're going back to class now," Tatsuki said , opening the door. " Come on Orihime , lets go."

With that she pulled Orihime out the door and closed behind her, leaving the others behind.

Outside the office as Tatsuki and Orihime walked back to class, Orihime kept looking back at the office door, with a worried expression on her face. Tatsuki saw this and immediently knew what she was thinking about,…. Ichigo.

"Relax Orihime, he'll be just fine, I promise" Tatsuki said, Looking straight ahead , down the walkway.

Orihime looked startled, and her cheeks grew a little pink as she said " Who.. I wasn't worried about anyone, really and who's "He" anyway….hehehehe…"

Tatsuki looked over at her and gave a small smile. "There's no need to lye to me, I know you were worrying about Ichigo. But like I said, he's going to be just fine, Orihime."

"Well I.. Are you sure he will?" Orihime said, the blush on her cheeks more intense. "Wasn't it wrong to leave him.. And the others , like that?"

Tatsuki staopped walking, turned to her, and put her both hands on Orihime's shoulders, facing her and said, in very sincere and uncharacteristically tender voice . " Listen to me Orihime , Ichigo's not going to get in much trouble over this, maybe detention or something….. Let me ask you something, If Ichigo was in any real danger, do you think I'd abandon him?"

Not giving Orihime time to answer, Tatsuki said "Of course I wouldn't, Ichigo and I have been friends for over 10 years now, he was my first friend, my first best friend, and I care deeply about him."

With that she gave a small smile, removed her hands from Orihime 's shoulders and started walking again, with Orihime sprinting to catch up to her.

Back in the office, Keigo decide to try walking out the door casually, while saying " Well I guess I'll be heading back to class too.." But he didn't get very far, when Mr. Kagine grabbed the back of his shirt, and held him in place.

"Not so fast , Mr. Asano, This is as much your fault as it is Ichigo's, Hiyori's and Rukia's ."He said, frowning at him.

Rukia had though of a wasy to get out of it and it called for using the acting skills that Ichigo and Hiyori hated so much. She cleared her throat, and made herself tear up a little while she said in her fake schoolgirl voice, "This is all my fault Mr. Kagine…if I had been stronger,… maybe I could have stopped Ichigo and Hiyori from making such a scene.."

"Oh, wait!" said,"Don't cry miss Kuchiki!, I'm sure you did your best to stop them. I don't see why we can't let _you_ off with a warning. Since you're a new student and all.."

As Rukia continued to play the teacher with her fake voice and mannerisms, the princeipal, who had been quiet the entire time, calmly watch the other students climb out the teacher, heard the last of them going out the window, and his face vaulted. He ran over to the window and leaned out.

"Hey ! Get back here, now!"He shouted angrily, as he shook his fist at them. After they turned the corner and were out of sight , he gave up and turned back around.

When he turned around though, he saw that Rukia was also gone now, too. "Damn it, even miss. Kuchiki's gone now!"

He looked over at the principal and yelled at him " Mr. Principal sir, why didn't you do anything to try and stop them!"

The principal seemed to ignore him though and said, " Hey Mr. Kagine, any chance I can get a copy of this tape, I wanna show my grandchildren, their big fans of Spirit Hunter"

The gym teacher cried out how unfair it was, while the principal just said "By the way, if you do find them, do me a favor and get me their autographs, would you?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!, what's wrong with this school!….

It was a little ways from the office and Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro, had caught up with Tatsuki and Orihime outside. Keigo and Rukia were smiling on a job well done, while Ichigo and Hiyori kept giving Rukia evil looks. Chad, Mizuiro, Tatsuki and Orihime just walked along quietly.

"We all got off scott free thanks to you , Rukia!" Keigo said happily as they walked down the stairs.

Ichigo frowned and said "Yeah right,… Thanks to little miss Benedict Rukia here, we almost got in major trouble."

"True, her phoney little acting stunt is was gave you time to get away in the first place, right?" said Tatsuki, looking over at Ichigo, with one eyebrow up.

"Like you have any room to talk, you made up a fake excuse to yourself and jiggles here out trouble at the first chance you got." Replied Hiyori, crossing her arms as she walked with Ichigo.

Orihime blushed , but didn't say anything, as she walked next to Tatsuki, trying to hide her large chest from Hiyori's view.

"It's not like it was a life or death situation or anything," Tatsuki said, staring up at the clouds as they walked. " I wouldn't have left you guys if it had been ,…. I would never abandon my friends in that type of situation."

Suddenly, Rukia's Soul Pager started beeping, She stopped walking and pulled it out to look at it. Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment before returning back to a happy look again "Oh, um hey, Ichigo ,Hiyori, we have that thing we need to do, I can't believe we forgot, hehehehe!"

Ichigo looked at her for a moment before understanding what she, meant. " Oh yeah right, that project thing." he said, turning around but not moving.

Hiyori jumped onto Ichigo's back , wraped her arms around his shoulders, and kicked him in the back of his leg. "Hey , dumbass!, lets get moving, hurry up!" She shouted at him.

He blushed slightly as he grumbled something about annoying snaggletooth brats under his breath. He got a secure hold on her legs which were wrapped around the back of his waist and gave Rukia a small nod. Then Rukia grabbed onto his sleeve, and pulled him along as they ran off, leaving the others standing there. Ichigo and Hiyori could be heard arguing for quite a distance, before their voices faded from earshot.

"Hey, guys," Said Mizuiro, looking at the others quizzically, " Do you guys think Rukia and Hiyori have crushes on Ichigo or something?"

Keigo looked at him and just laughed , "Yeah right!, Ichigo might like them, but Hiyori's too mean and Rukia's too sweet to like a brute like him"

"Well then why was Ichigo so easy going about giving Hiyori a piggy back ride, why did he run off with Rukia like that without questioning it?" Mizuiro said, pulling out his phone to check for messages. "They sure seemed cozy with each other too me."

This time, no one answered….

About 10 minutes later , a few blocks from the school, Ichigo and Hiyori were sitting on the ground next to each other, both with an identical scowl on there faces. Rukia was busy looking through her Soul Pager and frowning as she did.

"Well, the hollow is either gone or was never here in the first place." Ichigo said standing up. "I think you need to get your phone thingy checked or something."

"The phone's fine, it must have been a false alarm or another Jibaku spirit" Rukia said, closing the phone up and putting it back in her skirt pocket.

"Yeah, cause all we need is another Jibaku to deal with…" He said, getting back into his body, and putting the Gikongan back in it's dispenser. "Lets just get back to class."

"Yeah, fine " Rukia said, crossing her arms and waiting for them.

Ichigo, now back in his body , held out his hand to Hiyori, who took it ,and stood up. He walked her Gikongan possessed Gigai over to her, held it by it's sholders, and helped her get back into it. After a minute or so, he crouched down so he could give Hiyori a piggy back ride back to the school.

When they were all set, they raced off back to class, while a strange person with glasses, who's eyes were hidden by the sun's glare, stood watch the three. "Humph.. Pathetic Soul Reapers…" He said, and then walked off as well.

END OF CHAPTER 6

Well that's all for now, so please read ,enjoy and review. Oh and ignore the thing I wrote in chapter 1 about th rating change, it's back to Teen, I just never got around to erasing the message. As always, I'll be back with a new chapter in a few days or so, please be patient! Peace!


	7. Chapter 7

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 7

It was ten minutes later, and everyone form Ichigo's class was checking out their class rankings, which were posted on the wall.

Tatsuki was standing next to Orihime, looking at their places. "Wow, Orihime, third on the class!" She said, putting her hand on Orihime's head and giving it an friendly rub. "Pretty smart for girl, huh?"

Orihime just smiled and laughed lightly. Their classmate and friend, Michiru Ogawa was standing next to them slightly depressed. "It's just not fair, Orihime has a big brain and big boobs."

Tatsuki gave her , strange look as she nudged her shoulder and said, "She a horrible cook, if it makes you feel better, Michiru"

Meanwhile, Keigo and Mizuiro were standing in front of them, looking up at the scores. Keigo crossed his arms and said " Who cares, about the girls getting really good grades?" He looked over to the right at Mizuiro. " At least none of the boys in our class was dorky and made a high spot on the list, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Mr. Asano, look" Mizuiro pointed up at a spot on the paper, and Keigo followed his finger till he saw what he meant. When he did, he read it out loud in disbelief.

"Number eighteen in our class is… ICHIGO!" Keigo yelled out , looking over at Ichigo who was near by. Fake tears were running down his face as he said "Number eighteen! That's impossible ,you cheater!, there's no way your that high in the ranking!"

Ichigo scowled, in annoyance at him, and said " Oh shut up, you moron, the reason I get good grades is cause I actually study,…. you should try it sometime."

Keigo continued to look devastated, by this revelation, and pointed his finger at him. "So you mean all those times I wanted to hang out with you after school, you were… STUDYING!"

"HELP ME, I'M FRIENDS WITH A NERD!" He yelled as he seemed to run in slow motion , dramatically away from him. Suddenly, he was back up in front of him with a pair of thick glasses. "Here you go Ichigo ,I got you some awesome nerd glasses, perfect for you to…" He was cut off though, when, Hiyori punched him in his privates, and as his head came down forward ,she rammed her knee upward , into his face, breaking the thick glasses, and sending him backwards to the floor.

"Take that , you annoying retarded, dumbass,!" Hiyori said, with arms crossed, and smiling confidently with one foot resting on Keigo's back. "So, how was that?" she asked out loud to no one in particular.

Tatsuki, Mizuiro, and their teacher, Miss Misato Ochi ( who had walked by and happened to see the event) all held up scoreboards. Tatsuki smiled and gave her a 9.3. Mizuiro stared and gave her a 8.5 and Miss Ochi clapped, and gave her a 8.9. Ichigo , on the other hand just stared at Hiyori in disbelief. And Orihime… she just laughed awkwardly.

Mizuiro then walked over to Ichigo, and stood by him. "All joking aside, It is pretty strange to find out you work so hard in school, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked over at Hiyori and Tatsuki, while they talked about fighting techniques. He then said to Mizuiro, " It's because I get hassled enough by people thanks to my orange hair. I don't need add class dropout to my list of short temper, having orange hair, and being a punk."

As Keigo tried to get up, holding his sore face, he bumped into Michiru Ogawa and accidentally knocked her down on her butt. For a brief moment, her underwear were exposed, and Keigo quickly tried to look down at her, but instead, his face came into contact with the bottom of Ichigo's shoe, causing him to fall the floor again. Michiru quickly pulled her skirt down, with a bright red face, and when she looked up, she saw Ichigo, with his face turned towards the window.

"Here" Ichigo said to her, holding his hand out to her, with his face still turned. "Don't worry, I never looked , so let me help you up."

She was somewhat speechless and her cheeks became ever so slightly pinkish, as she took his hand and stood up. "Umm.. Th.. thank you …Ich.. Ichigo"

"Yeah , no problem, Michiru." Ichigo said ,finally turning his head towards her. "Your ok, right?.. Well, be more careful, see ya around then."

Michiru stood there for a moment, frozen, and then moved back over to her friend.

"Woah, I never knew, Ichigo was so nice before." Michiru said to her friend and classmate, Ryo Kunieda, who was reading a book "I wonder if he's always been so chivalrous like that?"

"Ever since middle school." Ryo said not looking up from her book. "As far as I know anyway."

Michiru looked over at her in surprise, " What how do you know? Did you use to be friends with Ichigo or something, Ryo?"

She lowered her book and looked at Michiru," No, but I was in the same class as him in middle school. I remember the first day of school in particular."

While, Ichigo was asking about the name in the number one spot of the ranking, Hiyori listened closely to what Ryo was saying from nearby, as they talked. _I wonder what she's going to say about Ichigo?_

"So what happened, Ryo?" Michiru asked, somewhat excitedly " What did Ichigo do on the first day of school?"

Ryo cleared her throat and looked over at Ichigo when she spoke. "In homeroom on the first day of school, the class rep, a girl who was a bit of a nerd, was being picked on by a couple of boys. She tried to ignore them, but then they to started pulling her hair, really hard, causing to tear from the pain. Before anyone could blink, Ichigo, who was a few rows over, stood up, walked calmly over and slammed the face of one the boys into the desk. Then he turned around and punched the other boy so hard, he broke his nose."

"Wow!" Michiru said, holding her hands clasped in front of her, " That's amazing.. Then what happened?"

Ryo smiled a little, and then said " The girl was really, grateful, and tried to thank him as he was haled off to the principals office by the teacher, who had been out of the room at the time. But, he said a strange thing in response to her, he said "_Don't worry about it, I don't need to be thanked, I just did it because people who pick on others like that piss me off." _He got suspended for quite a while for that, but , much later, that same girl offered to help him out when he was struggling to study for midterms."

"Well even though I still think he's a bit scary,… I guess he can be a really sweet guy sometimes, huh?" Michiru said , with a little redness on her cheeks as she turned to look over at Ichigo. When did though, he was gone. "Hey.. Where'd he go, Ryo?"

Ryo had put her book back up to her face, to begin reading again before she answered. "He got pulled off by Rukia somewhere, And Hiyori followed along."

"Really?, wow you seem to notice everything around here huh?" Michiru said to her, surprised.

She looked up from her book and Said " Yeah, I'm pretty much awesome like that." before looking back at her story.

"You've have got to be shitting me!" Ichigo yelled out angrily, while putting his Zanpaktou back in it's sheath.

Next to him, Hiyori was equally pissed. " This the second fucking time in a row now.. Get your phone fixed!"

"Yeah or else someone's beating us to the punch on theses hollows" Ichigo said, agreeing with Hiyori.

"Hmmm.. Maybe this soul knows something" Rukia said looking down the ally they were in.

At the end of the ally the three of them currently stood in, the soul of a short, fat guy, wearing sweatpants ,a tank-top and glasses sat against a wall, looking scared. Suddenly, the spirit cried out and tried to hug Ichigo, who freaked out and tried to push him away with his foot. "OH I WAS SO SCARED.. I ALMOST PEED ME PANTS!" The spirit yelled as he was pushed onto the ground by Ichigo's foot.

"ICHIGO…! Calm down!" Rukia said, as she crossed her arms and walked up to the spirit. " What were scared of, did you see something?"

"I saw.. A BIG HUGE MONSTER WITH A WHITE FACE!" the spirit cried out, who tried to hug Rukia now. She kicked him back with her foot, and he went silent again.

Hiyori, who had been letting Ichigo and Rukia deal with the situation, got fed up and walked over to the spirit. She grabbed a hold his tank-top and pulled him close, as she spoke in a low , angry voice, with fire in her eyes.. "Now listen, and listen good… you saw the monster, so that means you also saw who killed it, right? ..NOW TELL ME!, WHO WAS IT?"

Ichigo and Rukia stood behind her, and all they could think was… _Demonic._

The spirit looked like he was going to cry again, as he, whimper out, I didn't see him…"

"What? Speak up moron!" Hiyori yelled, shaking him by his shirt.

"I DIDN'T SEE HIM, I SHUT MY EYES AFTER I SAW THE MONSTER! He yelled out, while balling his eyes out.

"Errgg.. DUMBASS!" Hiyori yelled, dropping him to the floor, and walking over to Ichigo, eyes still on fire. " You! Ichigo!, Konso this wussy s.o.b!' She said to him teeth gritted, arms crossed, in anger.

Ichigo scowled at her, and said " yeah, yeah don't get your panties in a bunch, snaggletooth." He pulled out his sword and while the spirit was whining again, he tapped it on the forehead, and sent it on its way to the Soul Society. "There at least that's taking care of."

As soon as Hiyori helped Ichigo back into his body, they heard a voice say " Well what do you know,

it seems your not completely useless after all"

The three of them turned and saw a teenager about there age, standing there. He was tall, thin, with jet black hair, rectangle framed glasses, and he was dressed all in white. He adjusted his glasses and said " Good evening, Ichigo, Rukia, Hiyori."

Ichigo looked at him at him with an eyebrow raised, " Uh ..who the heck are you,… and what's with the outfit?" he asked, looking at him strangely.

"Yeah and how the heck do you know are names, four eyes?" Hiyori asked, rudely to him, after Ichigo spoke.

"I see nothing with answering some of your questions " He said, in a quiet, calm voice. " My name is Uryu Ishida, and we're in the same class in school."

He stood perfectly still, and then said " I also know you can see spirits."

Ichigo and Rukia's eyes went wide when he said this, while Hiyori merely raised one of her eyebrows. Ichigo stepped forward a little, " How the heck do you know that?"

Uryu smiled and was about to open his mouth to speak, when something caught his attention. "What?"

He looked up in the sky, and said " A hollow has appeared"

Before anyone could say anything, Rukia, Soul Pager started beeping wildly, and she quickly fished out of her skirt pocket to look at it. "Well?, which way is it?" Ichigo asked, grabbing his Gikongan dispenser from his pocket.

As Hiyori was about to open her mouth and say where it was, Uryu, cut her off and spoke first. " It's over there" He said pointing off to the far right.

He turned his head to look at Ichigo and the others, " Can you not sense such a simple thing Ichigo, Hiyori ….. And you call your Soul Reapers."

This time around even Hiyori joined in on the face vaulting, with Rukia and Ichigo. When Uryu said this. They looked and saw small cross hanging from his wrist, reflecting brightly in the street lamp's light. The tips of the cross begin to glow and then shot upwards, and downards to two points, before Uryu grabed a ring shaped piece on the cross and pulled It back. When he was done, only a few seconds later, he held what looked like a bow and arrow made out of blue energy. He then waited for a moment,concentrated and shot off the energy arrow into the sky and out of sight.

A moment later, the signal on Rukia's Soul Pager ,disappeared " What, it's gone,.. the hollow signal vamished!"

Rukia, and Hiyori just stared at him, While Ichigo manged to say " Who or.. What are you?"

Uryu,who still held the energy bow in his hand, turned around and said " I already said my name, but I'll say it again. My name name is Uryu Ishida.. I'll also tell you this,… I'm a quincy, and Soul Reapers are my enemies!"…

The next day, Ichigo stood on the roof of the school, looking out over the city. He was thinking about the events from the day before, and was still frustrated as hell about it. Hiyori was nearby, sitting on the floor of the roof, with one she was clipping her toe nails, right out in the open, as if she was home or something. Ichigo looked over at her, and frowned. "You know it's very lady like to slip your toenails in public like that, Hiyori."

She finished the last one and looked over him, with an indifferent look on her face. She calmly said, "So?, when did I ever claim to be a lady like person, dumbass?"

He scowled at her and said yelled back, " That's not the point it friken gross, so cut it out already, jeeze!"

Hiyori's eyes went wide for a moment, he had said that in feep anger to her,_ He's never been outright angry with me like this before..I wonder whats wrong?…_

Before she could even open her mouth to speak, he cut her off, with a calmer voice. "Uh, .. Sorry ..about that. I'm just pissed about last night, I ..I didn't mean to take it out on you Hiyori." He was looking with his head, facing somewhat downward.

She smile briefly, before she replied in a teasing tone., " Well I supposse I can forgive you this time, .. But I might not be so nice next time, strawberry.."

He gave her a small smile before turing back around. " That guy last night, four eyes,… what was his deal anyway…. For that matter what was his name?" Ichigo said, while trying to think.

"Hmm.. What his name again?..was it, erni?, no.. hoshi?..no..ishi..ishimaru?.."He stood holding his hand on his chin "I could've sworn it was something like that. Ura .. Some thing, something.."

"Uh, you mean Uryu Ishida?" A voices from behind him said. He looked behind and saw Orihime standing there.

"Huh?" Ichigo exclaimed. "Do you know him or something?"

Orihime gave him a strange look before saying , "He in our class and were in the same club"

"He is?, Since when?" Ichigo said , looking confused and surprised.

"Poor , pathetic Ichigo" Said Tatsuki, walking throught the doors that led back downstairs. " I've known you for over 10 years , and evn now you still have the uncanny ability to forget people's faces and the names that belong to them."

Ichigo turned his whole body around and was now facing Orihime and Tatsuki. "Oh shut She-Hulk, I've remeberd your name alll these years haven't I?"

"oh, oh! He's remembered my name too" Sadi Orihime, excitedly. " And his other friends and family too, right?"

"He only remembers names and faces if those people are very important to him" Tatsuki said, in a lower voice.

Orihimke seemed to be thinking for a moment and then said " So that means,… you and I really mean a lot to him, Tatsuki!"

Tatsuki turned her face towards the stairs ,to hide her blush " Ye.. yeah.. I guess. ."

Close by, Hiyori was staring ,menacingly, at Orihime and Tatsuki. _How dare they flirt with my Ichigo!.. Wait! Did I just think. MY Ichigo?…Grrr, again with this stupid, schoolgirl crush thingy. _She lower her head,_ But even so… I can't help the way my useless feelings are…._ She looked back up and watch them again, before getting up and slowly walking over, as she tried to settle her small blush.

"Anyways lets get going , and eat lunch Orihime" Tatsuki said, walking to the stairs.

"Hmm, ok, and Ichigo, if you hurry Uryu might still be and his Handy Crafts club…" Orihime said with a straight face.

Ichigo looked over at Hiyori, who had just joined him, with wide eyes, who looked back at him with equally wide eyes, and simultaneously, they thought.. _Handy Crafts! What a nerd!_

A few minutes later,Orihime ,Tatsuki, Ichigo and Hiyori were peaking in on the Handy Crafts club, and sure enough, there was Uryu, holding a bag as he sat at his desk.

"Hey, look there's Michiru" Said Orihime, talking quietly. "it looks like she's bringing him her doll, lets watch!"

Ichigo and Hiyori decided to give in to their curiosity and watched with Orihime , while, Tasuki just stood nearby and said " You three can watch, but I'm not touching this one ,with a ten and a half foot pole"

As they watched, they were amazed to see him grab the doll, throw it into the air, and before you could blink, his needle he had gotten out of his sewing kit, was threaded and ready. In a quick display of his skills, he then took the needle and , going back in forth , tightly sewed up the tear in Michiru's doll.

"Oh, wow, you fixed him!" Michiru said happily. "Thank you , Uryu!"

He pushed his glasses up his nose, and looked forward. " It was nothing… by the way, don't ever talk to me again."

Michiru looked kind of sad by his harsh statement, and said ok as she slowly walked away.

"Hey ,what the hell is that guy's problem?" Ichigo asked, gritting his teeth. "If he didn't want to do that for her, he didn't have to. But theres no reason to be so nasty afterwords. Maybe I should give that guy I piece of my mind"

It was after school and Uryu was walking home, He soon stopped and said " How long are you going to keep following me, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo and Hiyori stood there, both kind of irritated. "So how long hav eyou known about us following you ?" Ichigo asked him.

"Us?" Uryu said. He turned around and looked behind him. "Oh, so your little girlfriend is here as well.? She's obviously much better at hiding her Spiritual Pressure, I had thought only your were following me, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"As for how long I knew _you_ were following me, ….Since you and Orihime came by the craft's club room." Uryu said, adjusting his school bag.

"Well aren't you the sharp one.. You wanna a cookie or something?" Ichigo said smugly, while not moving from his place. While Hiyori remained silent, but scowling.

Uryu ignored the comment, and said, just as smugly " The way you leak out your Spritual Pressure.. Even a monky would notice. ..furthermore, you don't seem to have the ability to detect Siritual Energy of others.. Even when there right under your nose"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the part about the monkey.

"Take this for example." Uryu said, adjusting his glasses again. " Until recently, you failed to notice me, even though we've been in the same classroom for some time."

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "Yeah well, I'm so good with names and faces. So…"

"It's not that… I managed to too sense your Spiritual Pressure when you first started at our school" Uryu said calmly.

As Ichigo and Hiyori stared in shock, Uryu continued, "I even know that Rukia Kuchiki was also a Soul Reaper, and I was well aware when she passed on her powers too you. As well as that was whn Hiyori first began to hang around you ."

Suddenly the air around them seemed to darken and a large group of white ribbons appeared around them. "Those are.. Spirit Ribbon!" Ichigo Exclaimed, remembering seeing them when he was tracking down Chad's pet bird , using Yuichi's soul .

Uryu raised one of his eyesbrow's slightly, before talking again. "For once your right, Spirit Ribbons… a manifestation of spiritual power. All beings have them,.. But did you know, that a Soul reaper's is different colors then other being's?" He reached out in front of Ichigo and Hiyori, then he made a grabbing motion. In his hands were red colored ribbons.

"These are yours, Ichigo, Hiyori.." He said to them, smiling in a sarcastic way.. "I wonder if you knew that?"

Ichigo and Hiyori were both a bit speechless as what to say.. But Uryu had no problem with talking to them as he turned away " Well you two what…. How about we have a little game?"

"You two Soul Reapers verses me, a Quincy?" Uryu finished, turning back to stare at them. "Then I'll show you, just how useless Soul Reapers really are"

While Ichigo and Hiyori had headed home, Rukia was currently in front of Urahara's to get her phone checked out, in case anything was wrong with it. As she approached the shop, she saw Ururu and Jinta, out front.

"Ok, ready!" Jinta yelled out. "Rock.. paper.. Scissors,… SHOOT!"

Jinta had gotten Scissors while Ururu had rock. "Darn.. Ok, how about one more time, winner takes all?"

They did it again, and this time Jinta had rock, while Ururu had paper. Ururu smiled and held out a broom she was holding to him. The n she said, "Looks like I win, Jinta. Now you have to do some cleaning today"

"NO! Lets do it again!" Jinta yelled at her as he got his hand ready.

"But Jinta, you've already lost 14 times in a row" Ururu said, still holding the broom.

"Ehh.. That does it!" Jinta yelled out at her. He brought his knuckles to either side of her head, and gave her a painful double nuggie.

"OWWW! Stop Jinta!, That hurts!" Ururu cried out " Jinta! Jinta stop!"

Suddenly Jinta was picked up about 10 feet in the air, and when he looked down he saw Tessai holding him up. He spoke to Jinta in a low voice that was both calm and scary at the same time. "Jinta.. Just what do you think you were doing to her?"

As Jinta was yelling out in fear, Rukia came up behind Tessai and call his name. He didn't answer, so she tried again, fed up with him ignoring her she , kicked her foot upwards and into his butt.

This got his attention somewhat, and Tessai turned around to see Rukia crouched down holding her now sore foot. "Oh miss Kuchiki, I didn't see you there… Um… Is something wrong with your foot?"

She looked up ,and said in a dry irritated voice " It's fine.. Where's Kisuke at?"

"The boss?,… he's inside, go ahead in miss Kuchiki" Tessai said, opening the door for her.

Kisuke heard the door slide open and he looked up to see Rukia walk through. He stood up and said "Well, hello there again miss Kuchiki, what can I do for.."

He didn't get to finish, because he was hit in the face and sent reeling back slightly, by Rukia's phone, which she had chucked at him. "Damn it, Urahara! Do you have any idea how many times I've called you over the past couple of days, without you answering me!"

As Urahar rubbed his sore chin, he replied " He he.. Sorry about that I must have been busy or something."

Jinta walked into the store and looked around. "Hey where's your boyfriend, carrot top at?"

Rukia didn't reply, though her cheeks turned a little red before she turned her face.

"He's kind of a weird guy, a moron really. Hope you dumped him. He he he" Jinta said, smiling evilly.

Ururu had followed Jinta in , and stood by him. "Jinta , that's not nice, Ichigo's a really nice person, I like it when he comes by"

Jinta just scoffed at her. "Your just saying that because he gives you piggy back rides around the store and brought that stuffed doll for your birthday." He turned to look at her, and smiled evilly. "Not to mention your massive crush you have on him Ururu, he he he he!"

This time it was Ururu's turn to have her face turn a bright shade of red as she yelled and shook her fists at him "It's not like that Jinta, cut it out, I don't not have a crush on him!"

Urahara and Rukia both thought this was funny but, she had serious things to disscuss with Kisuke.

"Urahara," Rukia started, as she walked over to him "What can you tell me about …Quincys?"

"Quincys?…wow, that's a word I've not heard in a very,very long time."….

Meanwhile, Ichigo , Hiyori, and Uryu were still standing in the alleyway.

"No friken, way, Quincy boy!" Ichigo said angrily. He crossed him arms, and looked away from him, while Hiyori, growled at Uryu.

Uryu took off his glasses and cleaned as he said " Oh, I see your to afraid . And your not allowed to become a Soul reaper without Rukia permission as well, that's what it is isn't it?"

Ichigo turned his head back and looked at Uryu, "WHAT!, " What did you just say?"

Uryu finished with his glasses and put them back on before he said " Your abilities as a Soul Reaper are from Rukia, so that makes you a substitute Soul Reaper, your borrowing her powers ,… therefore you need to ask her to use them , correct?"

"That does it, four eyes," Ichigo said, Reaching into his pocket. "we'll play your stupid game."

Ichigo pulled out his Gikongan dispenser, and popped a pill into his mouth. Moments later, his soul was separated from his body and he was again a Soul Reaper.

Hiyori stepped forward, and put hand on Ichigo's shoulder, getting his attention. He looked down at her as she said " Ichigo, wait. This is stupid, you don't antthing to prove to this freak. Jusget back in your body, and leave him here to try and pull out the stick that's lodged up his ass."

Ichigo smirks when she said that, but said." Sorry Hiyori, but I have to do this, I wont force you to help me, so if you don't want to get involved, you don't need to."

"Yes it's probably best if the pathetic little girl, with no brains or skills stays here out of the way" Uryu said in a slightly sarcastic voice.

Hiyori's Teeth grited, she growled , pulled out her Gikongan, and swallowed a pill in a matter pf moments. She was now in Soul Reaper form as well. She then open her mouth to put him in his place ,but Ichigo beat her to the punch.

Ichigo raced forward and grabbed Uryu by his shirt collar with both hands. "What did you say about her!" Ichigo snarled out "Don't ever, ever speak about her like that, ever again!"

He shoved Uryu backwards hard, almost causing him to loose his balance. He righted himself and said "My, my are we touchy about our little girlfriend?"

Ichigo was too mad to react to the comment ,though Hiyori at least blushed alittle._ Wow_ she thought. _I probably could have dealt with him on my own.. But…_ _that was really..sweet of Ichigo. This crush is now his fault too, damn it, he shouldn't do such sweeet things for me._

Hiyori put her hand on Ichigo's arm and smiled up at him "Thanks.." She said in a low voice.

Ichigo simply smiled back and gave a small nod, before releasing Uryu, and stepping back .

"Well if you two are ready, we can begin." Uryu said, pulling a tiny disk shaped object from his shirt pocket. "This is hollow bait, when I crush it, hollow will begin to gather. Who ever kills the most hollows within a 24 hour time period, will be declared the winner"

"What that's insane!" Ichigo yelled. "What about all the innocent people? What if they get attaked by the hollows?"

"Don't worry, I don't intend to let any innocent person get killed, And if you had belied in your own abilities, then you wouldn't worry so much" Uryu said to him calmly.

He took the disk, and crushed between two of his fingers. "There ,now the hollows will come. Prepare your selfs Ichigo Kurosaki, and Hiyori Sarugaki.

"Wait stop!" Ichigo yelled, pulling his Zanpaktou out of his sheath on his back. Hoyori also pulled hers out in preperation.

"Im afraid it's to late to stop, with the bait released , the time to act is now." Uryu said as he turned around and prepared his energy bow. " Now we depart.. So now, I bid good luck to both of you."_Your going to need it, _he thought to himself as as walked away.

As he faced away, from Ichigo and Hiyori, he thought out loud. " Now I will show you how useless, Soul Reapers truly are in this world" _I'll prove this to you and …. Grandfather as well…._

END OF CHAPTER 7

Please read and enjoy. Thank you please read the next page for some important info on this story.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey readers, I have to apologize in advanced, due to some major family problems, I won't be able to write anymore of this story for probably a few months or so. I do intend to continue it as soon as possible though so please be patient. I know some may not be happy with this, but it's beyond my control. Again I'm sorry ,I hope to continue this story of Ichigo , Hiyori and the others soon.

-A.P. Edwards


	9. Chapter 9

Attention readers, It looks like I'll be able to write some more chapters now, It looks like my "family related problem" is solved sooner then I thought, so I'll be starting a new chapter today, and I'll upload it in a day or so, depending on when I'm finished and right now I'm In a good writing frame of mind, so I'll probably be tomorrow when a new chapters up. Thanks to those who were patient, I have a lot of good ideas about Ichigo , Hiyori and the Vizards.

-A.P. EDWARDS


	10. Chapter 10

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

And a thanks to those who've reas and reviewd so far, I know I haven't responded to all of your comments and reviews on the top of my chapters, but I still am thankful for them, and try to use any good ideas into the chapters, and now.. On with the show!…

Chapter 10

Some ways away from Ichigo and Uryu, Rukia had just asked Urahara about Quincys.

Urahara held his hand in his chin, thinking for a moment before he spoke. " Quincys. It's been a very long time indeed, in fact I'd say it's been about 200 years since I've heard that name mentioned"

"Indeed, at least 200 years or so" Replied Tessai, as he walked into the front door of the store. "The name Quincy, certainly has a old fashioned sound to it, doesn't it?"

"Urahara" Rukia said , impatiently. "What exactly is a Quincy, anyway?"

Urahara looked over at Tessai, "Tessai, would you do me a favor and make us some tea while we talk?"

Tessai nodded to him as he walked away "Sure thing boss, I'll be just a few minutes."

Urahara waved his thanks, before turning back to Rukia. "Now where to begin? You see, Quincys were a clan of humans, with powers much like Ichigo's before he became a Soul Reaper. They developed ways of using their Spiritual energy to fight the hollows. But it was the way in which they destroyed the hollows , that led to their destruction."

Rukia was shocked about this, and asked. " Destroyed ? … And what do you mean their ways were different?"

Tessai brought in some tea for him and Rukia, to which they both thanked him before, Urahara continued. "Well as you well know, when a Soul Reaper kills a hollow, their Zanpaktou cleanses the soul, so it can pass into the Soul Society."

He took a sip of tea, before he spoke again.

"Tell me, Miss Kuchiki, what happens when a soul within a hollow is sent to the Soul Society?"

She looked up, and after drinking some of her own tea, answered him. " That's an easy one, when a Soul is cleansed by a Zanpaktou, it returns to the Soul Society and in turn becomes part of the Circle of Transmigration"

" That's true, however , when a Quincy takes care of a hollow, they do so using a beam of energy made of pure Spiritual energy that annihilates everything, including the human soul within. By destroying the soul, it will never return to Circle, and thus the 2 worlds become unbalanced." Urahara said, putting more sugar in his tea.

When Rukia's eyes went wide again he paused for a moment before speaking again. "Despite warnings to stop or change their ways, the Quincy's refused to on account of their belief that they were avenging their fallen friends and family, by killing hollows. Why should they be giving peace, when all they did was murder, was their main argument."

Meanwhile, the hollow "battle" of Ichigo and Hiyori versus Uryu had begun. One hollow crawled out of a opening in the sky, and before it even got all the way out, Uryu had shot an energy arrow at it, disintegrating it on contact .

"That's one for me, Soul Reapers." Uryu said looking confident. "You realize that before long, this town will be flooded by Hollows. If I were I'd worry about protecting as many people as possible, right now."

As Ichigo and Hiyori stood there, looking pissed, Uryu readied his bow for the next hollow. He turned his head for a moment. " Since your new to this, I'll give you a hint. Hollows are attracted to those with high Spiritual Pressure."

Ichigo's eyes went wide. "Oh no, Karin!" He turned around and sprinted away to find her. " I've got to find her and protect her from these things!"

Hiyori watched him, as he ran for a moment before yelling "Ichigo!, Wait for me dumbass!"

She turned her head towards Uryu, and growled at him "I hope the hollows defeat you feast upon your mortal soul." She the turned her head and ran after Ichigo, while calling for him.

"Humph… I almost feel sorry for him, he hasn't even figured out that that his family our the only ones close to him that have high Spiritual Pressure. And his little girlfriend hasn't mentioned this to him." Uryu said, looking up at the sky as two more hollows appeared and roared loudly . "At this rate, it will be no problem at all for me to defeat you, Soul Reapers."

-Meanwhile , ..

While Ichigo and Hiyori were trying to find Karin, and Uryu was hunting hollows, Tatsuki was outside her karate dojo taking a break. It wasn't an completely relaxing break though, because she had a lot on her mind. First ,she was …curious… about Ichigo's relationship with the two new students Rukia and Hiyori, _curious not jealous in any way, _she thought to herself. She felt her cheeks start to turn red, so she quickly tried to focus about other important things on her mind. One of the other things she had been worrying about was, that ever since she had visited and had dinner with Orihime some time before, a night that had been kind of blurry at first. She had been seeing strange things, ghostly things. And every day, these things got clearer and clearer to her, to the point where now she couldn't really see any difference between the ghosts and regular humans.

She also knew Orihime had been acting strange ,but whether she could also see ghosts now or not, she didn't know. Suddenly she felt a strange …feeling.. Like the ones she got when ghosts were around. She looked around but didn't see anything, so she walked around the corner, and the feelings got stronger. "Hello, any ghosts around here?" she called, standing in one spot now.

Then a voice said "Not a ghost my dear, just a hungry hollow, he he he he.."…

Tatsuki's eyes went wide and she screamed as one of the hollow's tentacles shot out for her….

Close by, Orihime had been feeling strange ever since that night that Tatsuki had visited with dinner. At first she could remember exactly what happened but with each passing day, she remembered more and more, as if her memory was unblocking itself.

She was getting ready to go home from school and was on her to meet Tatsuki. Suddenly she heard a scream and ran around the building to see horrifying sight.. It was Tatsuki,.. And she was being held onto by a large strange creature, That reminded her of a squid. "Tatsuki! She yelled

The creature and Tatsuki both looked down and saw Orihime looking at them , with a scared expression on her face. "What are you! And what are doing to Tatsuki!"

"You mean…ugh.. You can see this freak job too… Orihime" Tatsuki said struggling.

"Ye.. yes I can see it, what is it?" She yelled back

"Me? I'm a hollow, and my name is Numb Chandelier my dear… and you …"it said licking its lips, "Are about to be my meal!"

But before any of them could do anything, Orihime's hairpins ( that she had gotten from her brother Sora, before he died) started glowing. Dully at first, but it soon got brighter and brighter until Orihime and Tatsuki had to shut there eyes tightly. The hollow on the other hand didn't have eye lids and couldn't shut its eyes, instead it cried out in pain as it was momentarily blinded causing it to drop Tatsuki from its grasp.

Even though Tatsuki hurt her legs in the fall a bit, she managed to limp over to Orihime,. They were both then surprised again, when the hair pins shot off her head growing bigger and then hovered right in front of them, not as hair pins anymore, but small floating ,Fairy -like people. "Wow" said Orihime, "There are like, little fairies floating in front of me, how cute!"

"Uh, were not actually fairies you know". One of them said "Oh sorry" Orihime replied, slightly embarrassed.

"In any case we much to explain and not much time to do it in, we only managed to blind that hollow for a short time, so you have to listen carefully!"

In the soccer field, across town, Karin was practicing, and kept feeling the same strange feeling she had during the night of live Spirit Hunters event. She looked around but didn't see anything, so she tried to shake it off and get back to her practice with her friends. She kicked the ball, but wasn't paying attention and hit one of her friends in his face.

"Hey, be careful, Karin!" One of them said, picking up the ball.

"Yeah, your not even paying attention. are you?" one of the others said.

"Hmm? I'm calling it a day, I gotta get home, see ya!" Karin said, absently.

As she walked away, she was deep in thought. _Just what is this feel, anyway? It's so much stronger then last time, its…heavier._

She looked up and saw one of Ichigo's friends standing at the top of the stairs, looking out of breath, like he had been running. "Hey, your one of Ichigo's friends…um Chad , right?"

He blinked, then remembered seeing her before,. "Your one of Ichigo's sisters."

"Um yeah, I'm Karin. So what are doing her anyway?" She asked moments before he darted forward, grabbed her and pulled her out of the way of a explosion behind them.

She opened her eyes and looked up. Standing in the middle of the small crater, was a huge monster with a huge face, a hollow. "It's one of those things again, like at the Spirit Hunters event, and from that night at my house!"

Chad looked at the crater but couldn't see anymore of it then he could when it first started chasing him through town. All he could see was a shimmer of sorts, standing there. _If only I could see it more clearly.. _he thought. He looked over at Karin, and remembered what see had just said. "Wait a minute, you can see that thing, Ichigo's sister?"

"What do mean, can I see it?," She asked, eyes wide. "Of course I can, it standing there as clear as daylight!"

Before he could respond to her, he saw the shimmer dart towards them , so he once again grabbed, and threw her over his shoulder as he ran for cover.

"Hey mister can you.. can you see that thing?" Karin asked, still over his shoulder. She shifted her self with his help, till he was carrying her piggy back. "Let me be your eyes, and you hit it, where I tell you to!"

He turned his head back to her. "No, it's too dangerous, Ichigo's sister"

"It doesn't matter if… There to your right!" She shouted.

He ducked to the left quickly. "As I was saying, it doesn't matter, we don't have a choice, right now. Now… to your left!"

As he dodged again, and this time, he brought his fist down on a arm shaped burry object nearby him.

As he continues to dodge the hollow, with Karin's help, all he could think about was when he was little. He often used his superior strength to hurts others, and it wasn't until his grandfather was beat up by people that had been chasing him that he was taught a valuable lesson. His grandfather never fought back , only stood there. He did so because he refused to use his great strength to hurt them. Because that would make him no better then them. He decide from then on that he would only use his strength to protect others, instead hurting them.

As he punched the hollow again, Karin jumped off and rolled to the side, out of the way. He prayed to his grandfather to give him the strength to see the hollow, just a little bit. So he could better protect Ichigo's sister from danger. _I'll do anything , just.. give me the power … grandfather…_

As Karin watched the hollows arm disappeared after a blast of energy hit it. It came from the spot where Chad had been standing, a place that was now covered in smoke and dust. "Hey, Chad! Are you…ok…?"

The dust had settled and Chad now stood there, but he wasn't the same. His entire right arm was covered in a strange black armor, with a thick, red stripe running down the middle. It also had prongs protruding form the sides of his hand and the top of his shoulder.

"What the fuck?…" Karin stared to say in shock, as he moved forward again.

He shot off another few beams of energy from his fist and hit the hollow directly, knocking it back to the ground.

Karin ran up to Chad and asked " Hey, mister! What the hell happed to your arm!"

He looked down at it and didn't know what to say. He looked up and saw the hollow getting to it's feet. He didn't understand it himself but he didn't hesitate to run forward and shoot off another blast, this time hitting it in it's head, destroying it on contact. He came to a stop, feeling out of energy.

"Hey, mister! That was incredible, …. But are you ok though?" Karin asked, running up to him.

He turned towards her, and gave her a thumbs up. Her face vaulted in response. _How fricken lame can you get? He gave me the thumbs up? How uncool!_

Suddenly as was still giving the thumbs up , he tilled to the side, and fell down on his back.

Karin ran up to him yelling out his name, but he was busy looking at the armor._ I don't understand this at all. Suddenly I could see the monster, and then this weird armor appeared on my arm. I was able to shot off blasts of energy, as well_. _Was it a gift from my grandfather? Or something else… _

He looked up and saw Ichigo's sister standing there over him. "Hey, are you alright, Ichigo's little sister?"

"I'm fine, you moron" She said smiling down at him.

"That's good. "He replied, laying there.

"No it's not, you jackass!" She yelled ,kicking him in the side as hard as she could angrily. "What the hell's wrong with you! Getting hurt like that isn't good.! Damn, your just my stupid brother Ichigo, acting like a tough guy all the time! By the way it's Karin, got it!"

She turned around and said "I'm going to get my father, who's a doctor, to fix your ass up! If you move from this spot when I'm gone, I'm gonna kick your ass so hard I'll leave the spikes from my soccer shoes permanently imprinted in your ass!" She then ran off towards home.

As Chad lay there, all he could say was "Hmm, …Karin kicks…. exactly like Ichigo does."

After a moment, he fell asleep, and a shadow of a man wearing a hat, fell over him. The man smiled and had another larger man, carefully pick him up, and put him over his shoulder. Then they walked off leaving no trace they were ever there.

As Orihime tried to listen to the fairy-like person, who's name was Ayame, she noticed that Tatsuki's arm was bleeding , and her ankle was bruised. "Tatsuki, your arm , and leg.. Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

The Fairy person, namedHinagiku got her attention. "Please listen Orihime, We can heal your friend later with our power, but for now, you must listen ,as time is short!"

"He's right , Orihime,.. Now then , we are called your Shun Shun Rikka. We are your Spiritual Powers in physical form. Only you, your fiend her and people like Ichigo Kurosaki can see us…. The hollow looks like it's about to attack, so you must follow are instructions! Are you ready?" said one of the other ones.

The angry hollow started to shoot off strange spores things, from her forehead at them. The fairy thing turned and said "Now hold your hand in front of you and repeat after me! Hinagiku, Baigon , Lily!"

Orihime held her hands forward, and said " Hinagiku, Baigon , Lily!"

Then fairy thing, Lily said "Now say, our incantation or Kotodama Santen Kesshun , I reject!"

"Santen Kesshun , I ..Reject!" Orihime shouted, and just in time. As the spores were about to hit her and Tatsuki, a strange, triangle shaped shield of energy formed in front of them, blocking them from the attack.

"Nicely done, Orihime" Shun'o said to her, "That was your defensive shield, one of your three shields you can summon, that reject all matter on the other side."

"Now it's my turn Orihime" Shouted another one who flew up in front of her. "I'm Tsubaki, your offensive shield power. Now call my name, and say the Kotodama!"

"Right!" Said Orihime, " Tsubaki!"

Together they then said, " Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

He shot forward toward the hollow at high speeds, turning into energy as it hit the hollow, who cried out "No! what the hell are you!…

The hollow was cut in half Tsubaki, and dissolved away, cursing the girl as it died.

Orihime felt very tired, but tried to stay awake. "One last thing to do Orihime" one of the other Fairy's said. " My name is Ayame and this is Shun'o. We are your healing shield, we reject an reverse anything that has happened to the one we are placed around, allowing us to heal any wound conceivable.. .. Now, say are names "

Tiredly, she nodded and said " Ayame, Shun'o"

"Now say are Kodadoma, Soten Kisshun, I reject" Said Ayame, politely.

Orihime repeated after her, as she yawned. "Soten Kisshun, ..I reject"

A oval shield formed around Tatsuki, who had lied down to rest her arm and ankle. Immediately the bruise and swelling around Tatsuki's Ankle , vanished and the cuts to her arm closed itself up, both looking like nothing had ever happened.

"Ha.. I did it, Tatsuki…" Orihime said before the Shun Shun Rika return to her head as hairpins. Moments later, sleep over took her, and she fell into a deep sleep on the ground, next to Tatsuki.

Tatsuki looked over and smiled. "Good job Orihime.." She said , before she heard a sound like something bursting, and felt a strange wave of warm energy wash over her. She too, then fell deep asleep.

"Well, it seems, we have two of them to take care of this time, huh old friend?" said the tall man, who had appeared before and carried off Chad earlier. " If you would Tessai"

"Of course Boss" Tessai said, picking the two girls up. " What should I do with young miss Arisawa here, Kisuke?"

Kisuke lowered his hat , to block out the bright sun before saying, " Hmm… considering her level of Spiritual Energy, she will no doubt cause the effects of the memory replacment to wear off quickly. There's nothing else we can do, but to lay her down inside and leave her there. The high level spell you used on her memory should work well enough for right now."

"Right, boss" Tessai said, as he carried Tatsuki inside and gently, laid her down on a gym mat. He then carried Orihime back outside and followed Urahara as he started walking back to the shop.

Meanwhile, as Ichigo and Uryu continue to hunt down and kill hollows in the city, Rukia had left Urahara's shop and was thinking about whet he had told her about Quincys. It was hard for her to believe what she had learned, and also that this Uryu person, might be among the last of them. Suddenly her, Soul Pager started to beep, but just as she got it out and was about to open it, it stopped. "huh? That's strange, Ichigo must be working faster then usual. He's really come far in such a short time. Partially thanks to Hiyori."

She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy run through her, but before she couldenvn think anymore, her phone started beeping again. This time she actually got it open before the signal disappeared. "What the hell's going on? How can there be so many hollows appearing at one after another, and how is Ichigo killing them so fast?"

Then it beeped. again, and again and as she watched, the screen begin to fill with 8, 9, 10 signals. More and more appeared on it, and then she heard a strange sound like something cracking. She looked up, and the sky looked like it was cracking open. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at it. "What… what's going on here.. It's like the end of the world or something…..!"

"I've.. I've got to find Ichigo… And Hiyori too.!" She said out load as broke into a run down the street.

It was many hours later, and Orihime was mumbling in her sleep. "No Ichigo, it's Shonen Jump, not Shojo Jump.. I like that magazine better , silly…"( I know that's not what she actually says, but I though I'd give a reference to the awesome magazine it runs in) She said this as she suddenly pushed her self up and felt something hard hit the back of her head. She turned her body till she was kneeling ,and looked behind her, to see Chad sitting there holding his chin in pain.

"Oh , Hi Chad gooooood morning!" she said happily. " Oh by the way, is something wrong with your chin?"

"No it's fine.. Orihime." He said, holding his chin, He had though she was having a nightmare, and now he was paying the painful price of being concerned about his friend. "You have a surprisingly hard head though.. By the way, What were dreaming about anyway?"

She turned bright red, and stuttered out "Um.. We..well ..it was nothing , yeah nothing at all hehehehe.."

"By the way, Chad Where are we… and .. Tatsuki! Where's Tatsuki?" She shouted out , looking around franticly.

From behind them a calm, lazy voice said "Relax miss Orihime, your friend Tatsuki is safe and sound back at the dojo resting. In fact, I suspect she'll probably wake anytime now. AS for where you are.. This a back room of my shop, and I am Kisuke Urahara, the owner"

"Now that your both wide awake, it's time we had a chat.. About your strange abilities and there connection to Ichigo" Urahara Said, sitting down in front of them.

Orhime's eyes, went wide. " The connection to Ichigo?…"

Speaking of Ichigo, he and Hiyori were currently running through the streets, killing hollows left and right. "This is the way home, so if Karin walks this way she'll be safe. We gotta fins that basterd Uryu, now, Hiyori"

She smiled at him as they ran _Thinking about his sister's safety over everyone else's.. That kind of stupid but also very sweet.. _She though to herself._ Not that I like anything that's' sweet or anything.. _She quickly thought as she fought her blush that was threatening to spread across her face. "Oh … uh yeah,.. We gotta find four eyes, and kick his ass, straight to next month."

"Is something on your mind, you seem distracted or.. Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked slowing down so she could catch up. "I know we're in a hurry but if you need to talk about anything, all you have to do is ask,.. Anytime, any place."

Hiyori Turned her face down to hide the massive blush that covered her face, and ears." N.. n.. no It's nothing really , just shut up you moron and lets keep going, I think I hear small explosion-like sounds nearby, it could be him."

"Um ok.. If your sure.." he said turning his face forward. " But the offer stands, Indefinetly"

Close by Uryu was having trouble killing all the hollows as fast as usual. " What's going on here, one shot from my bow isn't enough to kill them anymore.. I don't understand this…" He said out loud to himself. "And the number of hollows in the area,,.. There are way to many for the small amount of bait I released….. But I can't give in, I wont loose to a Soul Reaper" ._And I wont dissapoint Grandfather.._

As he ran on to keep killing hollows, he felt a familiar Spiritual Pressure nearby, and He knew it was Rukia's. He sped up and turned the corner to see her checking her Soul Pager. She looked up when she heard his footsteps.

"Uryu,.. What are you doing here?" Rukia asked, confused by his presence.

"Rukia… Are you going to enter the tournament Uryu asked, adjusting his glasses. " The one that has me verses Ichigo and Hiyori , the one about who kills the most hollows?"

"So this is your handy work?," Rukia said, standing up. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Indeed.. But not to worry, even if Ichigo fails or even dies, I'll will not allow a single person in this town to be taken by a hollow" Uryu said looking serious at her. "If I can't do that ,, then I wont win and this fight will mean nothing"

Behind them a hollow appeared and as Uryu readed his Bow, it was cut in half by a huge sword, and when it desolved away Ichigo stood there smirking evily. Suddenly, Hiyori flew out of nowhere, and punched Uryu in the face, sending him stumbling back. "Ha! That's for making us chase your four eyed ass around town!"

Hiyori stood there with a grin that matched Ichigo's as she stood ther with her arms crossed next to Ichigo. "Now we finally found you, and we're going to kick your ass so hard, you'll never walk straight again!"

"Um.. What do you mean, are powers are connected to Ichigo?" Orihime asked, looking at Urahara

Urahara looked at them and said "Yes, that's right, You see, your powers were born because of Ichigo."

Both Chad and Orihime's eyes went big, and they were speechless for a moment.

Orihime managed to speak after a few minutes. "What exactly do you mean, mister Urahara?"

"Ichigo is what you call a Soul Reaper, he helps souls pass on, and destroys spirit monters, called hollows. He does this using a sword called Zanpaktou. He has Incredible ammounts of what's called Spiritual Pressure, or sprit energy. The more of this you have the more powerful you become." Urahar said to them standing up.

"Now then, you two have been giving a key t othe door of pssiblities that open before you." He said looking at them with his hands in the pocket of his coat. " The choice to open that door and walk through however… is entirely up to you."

The door behind them opened, and Tessai was kneeling there, looking up. "Sorry to disturb you, boss but the sky ridge has begun to converge"

Urahara looked over at him, "I see have preperation been complete?"

"Of course. Everything is ready, Kisuke." Tessai said. Closing the door behind him as he walked.

"Well then," Urahara said, waving himself with his favorite fan. "ket us go, that is if you want to see poof of what I've said to you. Of course it's entirely up to you, so follow me or not, it's your choice, your destiny.."

Urahara walked out the door and Chad and Orihime stood up , following him, wondering what they had gotten themselves into and what would happen now.

"So then Uryu, Are you ready to finish this crap between us, just you, me and Hiyori." Ichigo said putting his Zanpaktou over his shoulder behind him. "Right, Snaggletooth?"

Hiyori grinned in aggrement, standing next to him."Damn right strawberrry!"

"Ichigo look!" Rukia yelled out , pointing to the sky.

All the others looked up. "There are cracks in the sky?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

"That's not all" Uryu said, activating his bow. "Look, the holles are gathering at the middle of it!"

Uryu begin to fire arrows at the hollws as they flew across the sky.

"Hey, wait a sec!" Ichiogo yelled, getting a good grip on his sword.

Without turning back or stopping, Uryu said. "What the matter, afraid, Ichigo Kurosaki? Then stand as I Uryu Ishida, The last of the Quincys wins this battle!"

"Last of the Quincys?" Ichigo said, looking confused.

Rukia answered him, looking up the hollows. "Ever other Quincy was wiped out a very long time ago.. And the reason of his hatrid for Soul Reapers, is because they were the ones, who hunted them down.. And annihilated them…."

Rukia then explained to him what Urahara had told her about hem upsetting the balance and how the Soul Socirty had no choice but to destroy them. Ichigo grtted his teeth and ran afte Uryu, with Hiyori in tow.

"Hey! Uryu!" Ichigo yelled out, as he cut through a group of hollows, "I heard about the reasons you don't like Soul Reapers, and I don't actually know who I think was right, but your way of doing things, like this are out of control!"

"He's damn right !" Hiyori said, frowning at him. " You shouldn't bring innocent people into your stupid grudge against Soul Reapers, you four eyed freak!"

"Actually. I'm not too interested in something that happened nearly 200 years ago." Uryu said, ignoring her nasty comments, and pushing his glasses back up his nose. " I heard about it from my grandfather, and to be honest, I think at first, I sided more with the Soul Reapers on the issue ."

He turned towards Ichigo. "At least until…. they let him be killed by hollows…"

…...

END OF CHAPTER 10

Please read ,review, and enjoy. I'll have another chapter up ASAP. Peace for now!


	11. Chapter 11

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 11

Ichigo couldn't believe his ears, "Soul Reapers LET your grandfather be killed by hollows?"

Hiyori on the other hand, remained silent, she already knew full well what the Soul Society was capable of. She just concentrated of killing the hollows that continued to charge them.

"You see, my grandfather told me about the annihilation of the Quincys, and to him it didn't matter who was right or wrong." Uryu said to Ichigo without looking. "All that mattered, was that he never wanted again to see the sadness on the faces of humans and Soul Reapers ever again."

"My grandfather, who was also my Sensei, was a kind person, and taught me never to hate anyone, without a very good reason…"Uryu said, as he sent another energy arrow into the head of a hollow.

Ichigo jumped and brought his sword down, slicing the head of a hollow off, before saying "Then why was he killed by Soul Reapers?"

Uryu looked down for a moment before answering. "As one of last Quincys, The Soul Society had a constant eye on him… he argued new ways of working together to hill hollows, but they didn't listen, and condemned his Ideas. They just wanted him gone, so he wouldn't be a thorn in there sides anymore."

Ichigo, face was that of confusion as Uryu continued to kill approaching hollows and speak to him. "It wasn't long, however, before an opportunity came for them to be rid of him. One day he was attacked by hollows, and they purposely, didn't show up on the scene for almost an hour later,…. after he was already dead."

"They never listened to him , even though he was right.. He wanted nothing more then for Quincys and Soul Reapers to work together for a common good, of ridding the world of hollows. His ides of cooperation would have worked, if they had listened to him…"Uryu said, looking at Ichigo. "Now do you see?, This is why I must show you the strength of the Quincys!"

"That does it! Shut the hell up you stupid friken moron!" Hiyori yelled, as she jump-kicked him in in the back of his head. "You talk to damn much!"

Ichigo scowled in agreement. "You got that right… And part of what you said doesn't make since though. Didn't you say he wanted Soul reapers to work together? Well when has there been a better time for that to happen then for two Soul Reapers and a Quincy to fight together against hollows?."

"Now, Lets fight back to back!" Ichigo said grinning, with Hiyori grinning back as she gripped her sword . Uryu gave a small almost unseen smile, as he readied his bow. " And kick some hollow ass!"

Close by, on a bridge, Orihime and Chad watched as Ichigo, Hiyori, and Uryu got back to back and begin to fight against the hollows again. "It's hard to take it all in , at once like this isn't it Chad?" Orihime said, staring out at the three fighting the monsters.

"Hmm.. I guess it is, Orihime.." Chad said, standing beside her.

"Are you scared? I am …" Orihime said, biting her lip. " And I'm not sure about what to do either.."

Yeah I'm scared.." Chad said, calmly. "But I've always trusted Ichigo and wherever he goes, I'll follow him. That's the way it's always been."

"I guess your right" Orihime said , smiling. "I trust Ichigo too, and.. I guess I'll also follow him to wherever he goes… Wait, what's that?"

Chad followed Orihime's finger as it pointed into the sky. The crack in the sky was getting bigger and bigger and it seemed like something was trying to break through.

As Uryu, Ichigo and Hiyori continued to fight, Uryu said. " I agree that we should fight together to stop this.. But even though you know my reason,.. What are your reasons for fighting?"

Ichigo sliced sideways through two small hollows that jumped at him, before saying. " I've only been a Soul reaper for a short while but I'm not fighting for no reason either… When I was little.. My mother was killed by a hollow…. It happened right before my eyes."

Uryu's eyes went wide. _He lost a love one to a hollow at a young age like I did?… _

"That's the reason I'm doing this.. My sisters.. When mom died they were so upset that one of them tried to take over the house responsibilities that mom had, like cleaning and cooking… and my other sister , she became ,.. almost uncaring in a way, withdrawn.. Never showing much emotion other then anger, so very different then she used to be.." Ichigo said, looking down. "When that happened, I made a promise to myself that I would never let anyone one else go through what me and my family had been through. This carried over when I became a Soul Reaper, And I said I would use my power.. To make sure I never again, had to see the sadness on the faces of others ever again."

Uryu smiled , as Ichigo said words that resembled his grandfather's own. But his smile disappeared when he saw the cracks in the sky grow larger and larger by the second. "Ichigo , Hiyori.. The sky!"

Two giant hands and an a white face pushed through, as the cracks became a opening. "What the fuck is that?" Ichigo exclaimed, out loud. "Hiyori do you know what it is ?"

Uryu and Ichigo looked at her as they waited for her answer. She though for a minute, then said. "Hmmm. I'm not entirely, sure.. It's looks like something I once read about in the Soul Society. A giant creature, related to the hollows."

Suddenly a large number of the hollows near them, were blasted away. They saw Ururu standing there with a large, strange cannon on her shoulder. With a blush across her face, she bowed and said, "Um.. he.. hello Ichigo.. Are you alright?"

"Ururu?" Ichigo said with a smile on his face " Thanks for the help. But what are you doing here and what is that thing?"

"It's called a Menos Grande, young Ichigo and friends" Said Urahara, appearing behind Ururu. "but don't worry, we've come to help!"

They looked behind him, and saw Jinta, holding a large club and Tessai ,cracking his knuckles. "do not worry Ichigo, We will deal with the hollows, you three take care of the Menos" Tessai said as he raced forward, and using the palm of his hand he uppercutted and slammed a hollow by it's face, into the ground, killing it.

"Oh no , A Menos!" Rukia said, as she stopped running close by where the others were. "I've got to help them!"

But as she tried to move she found herself being held in place by an invisible, but powerful force. She looked to her right with strained eyes, and saw Urahara standing there, fanning himself. She tried to move and speak, but she found herself unable to do anything but collapse to the ground in her knees, sweating. "Like before , you couldn't help them, even if you truly wanted to ." Urahara said, watching as the Menos broke through the opening. " Besides, this is something that needs to happen, for them.. And for you."

Exactly what he meant.. She couldn't tell, and could only sit and once again be power less to help her friend. All she could think was, _Please be alright, when this is over, Ichigo…_

Meanwhile, Ichigo decided the best way was a frontal assault against the Menos, and he charged forward at it , before Either Uryu or Hiyori could stop him "Ichigo! Wait, what are you doing, you dumbass!" Hiyori yelled, chasing after him.

Ichigo jump at and brought his Zanpaktou down against one of the legs of the Menos. Even though he cut into it's leg, it didn't seemed to care much, and brushed him aside like a annoying fly. Ichigo tumbled to a stop after being knocked away. He sat up and was almost knocked aback by Hiyori, who was hugging him. She pulled away smiling and said " I'm glad your alright.."

But then Hiyori's happy face turned into a angry one, with her punching him in his nose so hard he though she may have broken it. " … but what the fuck were you thinking? You could have died, then where I be with you gone ,huh?"

"Hiyori, what do you taking about?" Ichigo started, as clueless as always, but was interrupted by Uryu.

"Indeed , just what was your plan, running at it like that?" Uryu asked ,looking at him.

"Plan? What plan?" Ichigo said , standing up, and holding his nose that was bleeding. " Well I guess you could say my plan was to cut it down till it's face was level with me, then I'd whack it on the head!"

Hiyori and Uryu's face vaulted and mentally smacked themselves.

"Your lucky we need you conscious right now, or I'd beat you black and blue for this, Ichigo " Hiyori said, standing next to him. "In fact, to make sure you don't do anything else stupid, crouch down!"

Ichigo looked down at her, " Crouch down,.. why?"

"Piggy back ride." Hiyori said looking away ,with a red face. " If I'm not right on top of you ,you'll end up getting yourself killed on me"

Ichigo grumble something under his breath, but crouched down, and hoisted her up on his back "anyways…" Uryu said, putting his hand on Ichigo's sword. But whatever he was about to say was forgotten, when his energy bow became huge and almost unstable with power._ This is.. Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure! It's .. it's impossibly powerful! _Uryu thought in surprise. _Since my arrows fire are made of Spiritual Pressure, … that's it!_

"Ichigo, Hiyori, I think I have an Idea!" Uryu said.

Five minutes later, Uryu was standing in front of him with Ichigo's sword tied on top of his head, while readied a powerful and very large energy arrow. "This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life, " Ichigo said, looking disgusted. "Even stupider, then that time I agreed to that Karate match against Tatsuki, loser becomes the winner's slave for a week"

"It's too stupid for words" Hiyori replied, still on Ichigo's back, holding onto him. "This will never work, four eyes."

"That may be, but this will work" Uryu said, readying himself. " All you have to do is push out your maximum Spiritual energy in to your sword. I'll use it to fire powerful energy arrows at the Menos!"

Ichigo looked at him blankly. "Umm… how exactly, do I release my Spiritual energy?"

"What are you talking about? , you're a Soul Reaper!" Uryu yelled at him standing up. " If you can't use Spirit energy, then how have you been fighting hollows all this time?"

"I guess with instinct and using what Hiyori taught me about fighting." Ichigo said, scratching his head. "And I guess my Spirit energy is always at maximum, I do give off a lot of Spiritual Energy right?"

_At full all the time? That's impossible! No Soul Reaper has that much energy! _Uryu thought, while wide eyed. _While that might explain things… how does he have so much Spiritual Energy? I just don't understand… _

Suddenly they all heard a loud growl and they looked up at the Menos. A small, but growing orb of red energy was beginning to form at it's mouth. Hiyori almost panicked when she saw this. "Ichigo, it's going to fire a Cero!"

As he ran up to the Menos again, he looked aback at her. "What the hell's a Cero?"

"It a beam of highly concentrated Spiritual energy! It will disintegrate everything in it's path!" She answered back , as Ichigo came to a stop and she jumped off his back. "We should be running the other way, Dumbass!"

Then as she spoke the Menos fired it's Cero downward at them. She snapped her eyes shut, and snaked her arms around Ichigo's waist hugging him from behind, as prepared for it to hit them. But her death never came, so she opened her eyes. What she, made her gasp slightly, Ichigo was reflecting the Beam with his Zanpaktou!

Not far away, Uryu was equally surprised. _I get it now! _,He thought._ Ichigo's Spiritual power is always on… In fact I think its like a bathtub filled with water, with the body being the tub and the water representing the Spiritual power.. Most people would plug the tub up somewhat ,to keep the water from escaping too fast. But for Ichigo it's like he doesn't have plug but it's still kept filled to the top of the tub with water, or Spiritual Pressure, by a constant resupplying of water. _

Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure began to rise, and with one mighty, upward swing, He made a deep cut into to the Menos, that ran from its feet to the top of it's head. The Menos sent a loud deafening hollow, it was in pain, and grabbed onto the sides of the open it came through and began to pull them up as it began retreated back inside.

The same thoughts ran through the minds of everyone there at that moment, _He forced the Menos to retreat! What kind of power does he have?_

"He's really amazing isn't he, mister Tessai?" Ururu asked, smiling with her cheeks red.

Tessai nodded to her. "Indeed he is Ururu, no wonder both the boss, and Miss Sarugaki, think so highly of him"

"Ha take that, Uryu!" Ichigo shouted grinning. Then before he could take a single step , he collapsed forward. If not for Hiyori catching him, he might have hit the ground. "Ichigo? Are you ok?" She asked, laying him down.

"He's just exhausted, Hiyori" Urahara said, crouching down near her. "He asleep, and probably will for at least a day or so. Well take him home, and after some rest, he'll just fine, so don't you worry about your little boyfriend at all."

As he grinned, she punch him between his legs, causing him to grunt in pain before collapsing on the ground himself. "Your …. punches… are as painful…. as ever…" he managed to say , while still in pain.

"Come on Tessai, carry Ichigo back to the store, will ya?" Hiyori yelled, to him.

Nearby, Rukia, who was still sitting on the ground, said. "It wont take long for this to reach the Soul Society. I can only hope, Ichigo is safe from…. whatever they decide to do about this…"

Later that night two Figures, dressed in black robes and armed with swords, stood in the sky.

"So this is are mission huh?" One of them with red hair asked as he adjusted some large visor style sunglasses.

"Yes, to locate and capture or kill the target…" The other, a taller, man with long black hair said, in a slow formal tone.

The taller ,black haired man then walked forward in the air " Come lieutenant,.. We must track down our target.. Rukia Kuchiki"

The next day at school, class had already begun 3rd period, when Uryu walking in late. The teacher looked over as he walked in. " Oh Uryu your.. Wait, what happened to your arms!" Miss. Ochi asked, concerned.

Uryu adjusted his glasses, and said, " Over the weekend I slipped and fell down a few stairs. May I take a seat?"

She blinked in surprise, but said " Oh, uh yeah, go ahead. Have a seat and we'll continue where we left off"

Uryu took his a seat, and looked over at Ichigo. He too had bandages on him, as well as a band-aid on his cheek and forehead. "Yo, Uryu!" Ichigo said in a low voice. "What really happened? Was it something from the , uh, "contest" thing?"

Uryu shook his head slightly, and then responded "No , I truly did slip and fall down the stairs. I stepped in some tea, that splashed out from a cup I was carrying." He pulled his book s out his bag, before continuing. "Fortunately, I was on the last few stairs at the bottom when I fell, it could have been much worse."

Ichigo nodded before, trying to stretch his legs, under his desk. This wouldn't have been a problem, except, Hiyori was exhausted from the massive hollow battle from the day before. And she was currently had her chair pushed up close to his and was laying down with her head on his lap, sleeping like a rock.

Some of the girls in the class, like, Orihime ,Michiru and Rukia though this was very cute, but Ichigo just frowned and when he asked how it was cute, when his younger sisters use to fall asleep on his lap when they were younger, they only thought it was even cuter. He shook his head in annoyance, _I just don't understand girls, and probably never will._

Meanwhile across town, Ururu and Jinta were sweeping the outside of Urahara shop. Well Ururu was sweeping ,and blushing as she thought about how cool Ichigo was the day before. And Jinta was swinging his sword around, claiming it was his sword. Ururu then heard a meow, and looked over to see a black cat standing there.

She reached over and slid open the store's door. "Mr. Tessai, Mr. Kisuke? There's a kitty outside, a black one."

Urahara and Tessai walked out and Urahara raced over and scooped up the cat into his arms " Why hello there, and welcome back Mr. Yoruichi!"

Jinta, who had stopped fooling around, watch this as he stood next to Tessai. " Hey, what's up with the black cat, Tessai?"

"Hmm? Oh that Mr. Yoruichi, him and the boss are very good friends" Replied Tessai, not looking away from Urahara. "In fact I'd even say their best friends."

Jinta looked up at him funny, "Best friends with a cat huh? That's kinda of weird if you ask me"

Back at school, Keigo raced over to Ichigo, "ICHIGO!" He shouted out happily. "LETS EAT LUNCH TOGETHER !"

Ichigo's response was to hold his fist out, into which Keigo ran into, and fell down. "Your way too loud , moron, your going to wake up Hiyori."

"Uhhgg… to late Ichigo, He already woke me up" Hiyori said, sitting up and stretching her arms. "Besides, I'm starving, and want lunch myself." she yawned as they both stood up.

"Alright fine, we'll join you for lunch after all, but I'm asking another person to join us as well." Ichigo said , as Keigo stood up.

Ichigo walked over to Uryu with a sleepy, Hiyori and a shocked Keigo in tow, who stopped behind him. " Hey, Uryu, come eat lunch with us,"

Keigo freaked out " WHAT? YOU WANT MR. BANDAGE BOY TO EAT WITH US, HE'LL SUCK OUT ALL THE FUN!"

"Stop being so damn loud you moron!" Hiyori yelled as she yawned. She kick him in his ass as hard as she could, knocking him in to the desks.

Nobody still in the room, even bothered looking though. They all knew Keigo was irritating and that you shouldn't piss off Hiyori, only Ichigo seemed to be able to get away with that.

Meanwhile , Uryu stood up , and looked at Ichigo, " Thank you for the offer, but I neglected to bring enough money for lunch today."

While in a bored tone, Ichigo replied "That's fine, It's Keigo's treat anyway"

"Ohm I see, in that case I think I will join you then." Uryu said , adjusting his glasses.

Keigo was about to loudly protest, until he saw Hiyori growling at him, while cracking her knuckles in a very un-lady like fashion. "Say anything, Keigo, and I use your face for a punching bag"

Needless to say, Keigo didn't say anything and followed the others outside onto the roof.

_Man, this whole atmosphere is totally negative!_ Keigo thought, as the they started eating lunch on the roof. _The only one's who enjoying it is Hiyori._

Hiyori who was still very tired, only managed to eat half of her tuna sandwich before passing out and using Ichigo's lap as a pillow again, only this time she was snoring.

"So Ichigo, why did you invite me , anyway?" Uryu asked, biting into his sandwich. "If it's because you think my injuries are your fault in some way, I you told I fell down the stairs once already."

Ichigo scowled as he ate some of his sushi roll. "Oh shut up and eat . I only invited you because I felt like it. Just say thank you and enjoy your lunch already"

Uryu pushed his glasses up his nose and said. " I really don't see why I should say thank you, I prefer to eat alone"

"Good, so do I" Ichigo said, in a irritated tone as he absently scratched Hiyori's head gently, as she slept.

Back at Urahara's shop, The cat, Yoruichi was looking in the sky when Urahara walked out and sat done next to him. " Here you go, Mr. Yoruichi, ice cold milk." He said in a happy voice.

" Enough with the funny act, Kisuke" Yoruichi said, looking over at him. "You know as well as I do, _**they **_have arrived in the world of the living."

"Yes ,I'm aware of this." Urahara said in a tone that was suddenly very, serious. "So, do you wanna discuss the situation now or after you have your milk?"

Rukia was sitting in a tree outside of school thinking about things, when she heard some voices down below. "Hey, Rukia! Come have lunch with us!" Orihime yelled up to her.

A few minutes later, Rukia, Orihime, Tatsuki, Michiru, Ryo and a girl named Mahana Natsui

were sitting on the ground eating lunch together. Out of no where, Mahana asks " So do you and Hiyori have crushes on Ichigo or something ?"

This question caused both Rukia and Tatsuki , to spit out their juice they were drinking .

"You and Hiyori are in love with my Ichigo.. I mean my friend.. Uh I mean Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked in a jumble of words, that had everyone staring at her. "What?' she asked, her cheeks, ever so slightly red.

"No I'm.. I'm not! Really!" Rukia said, wiping the juice off her mouth . "Me and Hiyori are just really good friends with Ichigo, that's all!"

"Mahana! You just can't ask somebody something so personal like that!" Michiru said loudly to her friend.

"What?, you know you were all thinking it too." Mahana replied back to her. "I was the only one with the guts to ask her though"

"We-e-well I didn't want to know!" Michiru said back.

"Well you wouldn't, would you?" Chizuru said, in a bored tone.

"Yeah, you hate Ichigo don't you?" Tatsuki asked, sipping on her juice again.

"Really, why?" Orihime asked, surprised by this.

"What?, of course I don't hate him. Really!" Michiru said waving her arms in front of her." I really do like Ichigo, he really is a sweet, and nice guy when you get to know him!"

"She's totally in love with him.." Ryo said, reading a book, and not looking away from it when she spoke.

Michiru's whole face and ears turned a red as a cheery tomato, and the others swore they saw steam shoot out of her ears. "I-I-I-I- not in- in lo-lo-lo-love with hi- him!"

"Really, Michiru? You never told me that!" Orihime said, embarrassing her friend even more she already was, if it was possible.

At this point Michiru was too frozen with embarressment to say or do anything.

"This is awesome, Because if Michiru, Hiyori and Rukia like Ichigo, the way I like Ichigo,… Then Ichigo would be like a pimp!" Orihime said, laughing . "Now all we need is Tatsuki, Mahana, and Ryo on bored!"

The faces of all the other girls just vaulted and turned red at her plan. " Please someone stop her, before she starts making any more sense!" Tatsuki said, her face still red._ There's no way I'm admitting my feelings for Ichigo… I mean IF I had any at all that is,_ she thought.

Rukia just smiled as Chizuru blabbed about joining Ichigo on his quest for girls while Tatsuki wasgoing balistic on her . _all theses feeling …are only going to make it harder. When I finally leave this place…_

**Hours later**…

Ichigo was getting ready for bed, and he got a plate of leftovers ready to take to Rukia, who had been living in his closet.

" Ichigo, are you getting more food!" Yuzu cried out at him. "You seem to do nothing but eat these days!"

"Yeah well, I'm a growing boy, gotta go, good night Yuzu, Karin!" Ichigo said as he quickly made his way up the stairs.

"I swear, Ichigo's been spending so much time in his room lately," Yuzu said, her hands on her hips. "Not to mention he's been eating like a horse too!"

"Oh relax, Yuzu!" Karin said , flopping down on the couch to watch TV, " He's just growing up, so stop trying to mother him so much, sheesh!"

"But what if somethings wrong? Maybe I should go check on him" Yuzu said, turning towards the stairs.

Karin grabbed the back of her collar, and dragged her to the couch. " Just relax, you no the way are brother is Yuzu, If there is something wrong, he'll want to deal with it himself."

"But aren't you worried about him, at all?" Yuzu asked, biting her nails, nervously.

" Obviously, I am! "Karin said looking at the TV, "He is my brother too and I ..you know.. love him and junk . I also trust him, do sit, relax and stop being a worry wart"

"Hey Rukia,!" Ichigo yelled, pounding on his closet door. " I got your dinner, so come on already."

He didn't hear an answer after a minute, so he pulled the door open roughly "Come on , I go out of my way to make sure your get breakfast, lunch and dinner, the least you can do is…"

She wasn't inside, as he looked in it. "Man she is always running off somewhere,.." Ichigo said sitting on the edge of his bed. "Hey, Hiyori you want this?"

He looked over at her, and she was sound asleep again, and snoring . This time she was under his covers, and using his pillow, not to mention drooling on it. Ichigo made a face at that, _She is so washing that pillow case when she wakes up, _he thought to himself ,as he went to go get ready for bed in the bathroom. _If only she was this cute and quiet when she was awake, she'd much easier to get along with._

Several blocks away, Rukia was running through the streets. "Hey is there she is!" the man with the red hair, and black robes from earlier said. "We finally found you Rukia!"

He was looking at her run with his sun glasses on, that had a computer display on the inside he could see. ' What the! Her synchronization with the Gigai she's in is.. 88.5% !" He put his sunglasses on the top of his head. " I didn't know that was even possible!"

"Why do you think she's been in a Gigai so long for Captain?" The red haired man asked., crouching in mid air.

The other man in black robes ,and long black hair, quietly said. " I do not know, Lieutenant Abarai. But it does not matter. She can explain it herself when we deal with her, in a moment."

The red haired man stood up and gripped the hilt of his sword , that was on his waist, " So,… Kill or capture?.. Kill or capture?.. What will it be?… hehehe Either way, This.. Is going to be fun!"

END OF CHAPTER 11

Please read, review and most importantly , enjoy! I'll be back in a few days with the next chapter, till then, peace!


	12. Chapter 12

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 12

As Rukia Kuchiki ran down the street she though of how emotions were making it hard to concentrate. _Emotions… they way heavy on my consciousness. They only become a burden to me, as they do all Soul Reapers, this is why were taught to ignore them, as they will only distract us._ " In the end.. I've stayed in this world ..for far too long."

"WELL! It looks like we agree on something!" Said a voice from above.

Rukia's eyes went wide, and she stopped in her tracks, looking around. "You! Renji!" Rukia exclaimed in shock.

Renji, who was crouching in the sky, stood up and could now be seen in the moonlight. He was dressed in traditional black Soul Reaper robes better known as a Shihakusho. He had long red hair in a spiky ponytail, black sunglasses propped on his forehead, and strange black eyebrows that seemed to connect to a tattoo. He sneered at her and said. " Even though you've stayed to long here, you should look at it this way, at least you lived a little while longer!"

Before she could react, he jumped down and brought his sword down at her. She barely managed to jump back and avoid it's blow.

"HA! pathetic.. Your so slow, Rukia ,in more ways then one." Renji said, pulling his sword out of the small crater he made with his blade. "You were so wrapped up in your own thoughts, that didn't notice two Soul Reapers hunting you down?"

He stood back up and smiled nastily at her. "Now come on , I mean, I know your in a Gigai, but you've lost your edge way to quickly"

"Now tell me Rukia, where are they?" He asked, resting his sword on his shoulder. " Where's the human that stole your powers!"

Rukia brushed the dirt off her dress and gave him a mean look. "How dare you suggest that my powers were stolen. Just because I'm in a Gigai, doesn't mean my powers are gone, Renji!"

Renji sneered back, and said " Your Spiritual power level is barely registering right now, meaning their either gone or almost gone, and further more .. You have an expression of a stupid human on your face, right now!"

"Even though you and I grew up in one of the poorest areas of the Soul Society," Renji said, pointing his sword down. " You were trained well in the ways of a Soul Reaper! And that means, you shouldn't show emotions on your face like a human!"

"Isn't that right..?" Renji said smiling as he looked behind Rukia. "Captain Kuchiki?"

"! Byakuya?" Rukia said, staring at him with wide eyes, as she looked behind her. " My brother!"

Suddenly Renji lashed out, striking at her with his sword. She jumped back scraping the bottom of her hands on the black top as she slid to a stop. When she looked up ,she had a deep gash on her face, with blood running down.

Renji spoke again as she struggled to stand up.. "The transfer of your Soul Reaper powers to a mere human is a very serious crime, Rukia. Your very lucky, that we were sent to retrieve you, rather then someone ruthless, like the Stealth force or something."

Renji readied his sword again, "Now I'll ask you again, where is the Human who stole your powers, Rukia?" He scratched his head and then said. " Tell you what I'll do. If you tell me where they are now, I promise to deal with them quickly and painlessly. There's no reason for him to die slowly is there?"

She gritted her teeth , but didn't say anything.

"Fine don't say I didn't give you a change to save them.. In any case, you won't be so lucky." Renji said, holding his sword in front of him. "I'll let you know this, I let you avoid my strikes, but this time I wont miss."

As prepared to strike his sword down on her, A beam of energy shot past him, barely missing him. He looked up, in shock and saw a teenager with glasses standing there.

"You realize, that strike against a defenseless girl, is quite a despicable thing to do, don't you?" He said, holding his bow made of energy beside him. "It also make me mad."

Renji growled at him and said "And just who the hell are you suppose to be, four eyes?"

"Me?" the young man asked, quietly. " I'm just one of Rukia's classmates….. And someone who hates Soul Reapers!"

Rukia looked up, and saw who it was . "Uryu.. What are you doing here?"

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said. " I was just near by ,buying craft supplies. I mean, it's not as if I sensed the Spiritual Pressure of you and these two and needed an excuse to check things out here"

Rukia's face vaulted, and she thought, _wow.. That has to be one of the worst lies, I think I've ever heard.._

"Hey!.. Who are you?" Renji said, scowling. " This is the second time I've asked you now. But If you don't feel like answering me, that's fine, I'll just kill you, and be done with you."

Rukia stood in front of Uryu. "Renji , NO!"…..

Across town, Ichigo had just found a letter from Rukia on his desk and sat at his desk. As he looked at it his face vaulted. "What the hell is this thing? It doesn't make any sense!" Ichigo yelled out. "Hey any ideas, Hiyori?"

Hiyori, who had woken up about an hour ago, looked up from her spot , sitting on his bed reading a manga. " How the hell am I suppose to know?," She asked looking irritated."…. alright, hold on let me see it."

She stood up and walked over behind him, leaning over his shoulder to look at the letter, he had laid out on his desk. She blushed from the close contact with him, but he didn't seem to notice. "Well?" Ichigo asked, impatiently.

She shook off the blush and said, "It looks like…it's a riddle. There's a clue at the bottom, and it shows a picture of.. I think it's a bunny or something.." _Man, her drawings are horrible.._

"look at the letter, it has to many letter B's in it, …" She said, thinking.

"So if I take out the B's, then it will make sense, right?" Ichigo said, grabbing a pen from the desk.

After a few minutes, they had it done and Ichigo read it out loud. "Don't look for me…and don't worry. Burn this letter, and stay hidden with Hiyori for a while. Thanks for everything, and goodbye. Signed Rukia."

"Damn, what the hell is she thinking?" Ichigo said , angrily. "I mean , why did she up and leave out of nowhere?"

"The Soul Society" Hiyori said, stepping back. " She's obviously in some kind of trouble with them, and wanted to keep us safe from them"

Ichigo growled, and said "Damn it, That seems to make sense, but.. I still have to go after her."

"That's stupid.. But I know you too well, and there's no point to even try and stop you.." Hiyori said crossing her arms. "I guess that means I'll have to go with you then."

Ichigo smiled at her, " Alright then, let's do it partner! Now where did I put my Gikongan at?"

"How should I know?" Hiyori asked reaching for her own.. "Oh crap! I think I left mine at Urahara's! now what!"

"Perhaps I can lend a hand.. Or in this case, a cane?" Said Urahara, sitting on Ichigo's windowsill.

"Mr. Hat and Clogs?" Ichigo said, in surprise. "Sure , let me have it."

Urahara hopped of the window onto Ichigo's carpet and pushed his cane forward , knocking Ichigo in his forehead, and turning him into a Soul Reaper. "You ask and you shall receive! …That's .. uh .. The Urahara Guarantee!" He said in a happy voice. "You like that?, I just made that up !"

"Alright I going, follow me as soon as you can Hiyori" Ichigo said, jumping out the window.

"Your not going to let me go after him, are you Kisuke?" Hiyori asked, her arms still crossed. " And don't give me any "I have no idea what you mean' speeches either."

"You certainly know me well." Urahara said, standing in front of her. " If the Soul Society found out you were alive.. Well I don't really wanna think about that, now or ever." He said In a serious voice. " I almost lost you and your friends once, I won't allow it ever again."

"As painful a lesson as this will be,.. This is one, he must learn." Urahara said, in a low voice.

"Fine, but if anything happens to him, like dying for example..." Hiyori said, turning to look at him with fire in her eyes. " You'll wish you were never born, Kisuke."

"Ha! Just like I thought would happen kid, no match at all." Renji said, smiling as he stood over top of Uryu.

Uryu had tried to fight the Soul Reaper, and failed badly. He was now face down on the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

"Well time to finish you off four eyes, and there's no time like the present!" Renji said, raising his sword high above him. " See ya around kid"

Suddenly a giant sword crashed down in front of him, making him jump back. The slash left a huge crater of broken up sidewalk where it had hit.

"Hey, you eyebrow, what the hell do you think your doing?" said the voice belonging to the wielder of the sword.

Renji looked up and saw a orange haired kid standing there, scowling. "What? Who are you kid?"

"Hmm?, Me ? I'm Ichigo Kurosaki" HE said, grinning. "And I'm the one who's gonna kick your ass, eyebrow boy!"

Renji stared at him. "A Shihakusho? What the hell? What squad are you in? and where did you.. get that enormous Zanpaktou?"

"So your saying I got a big one, huh?" Ichigo asked, not moving from his spot. " To be honest I've only had a few others to compare it to. But I'll admit, I did think it was strangely oversized."

_Damn!…_Renji though, gripping his sword. _The size of a Zanpaktou is proportionate to the amount of Spiritual energy the Soul Reaper carrying it wields. Does this mean his power is.. Really that great?_

"Ichigo…you fool why did you come here?" Rukia said , in sad voice.

"I see.." Said Renji, grinning. " You're the one who stole Rukia's powers! And for that, I'm going to kill you.!"

Renji lunged at Ichigo swinging his sword at him wildly, but Ichigo had a lot of practice thanks to Hiyori, and he blocked every thrust of Renji's blade. "Ha! I gotcha !" Renji yelled kicking him and swinging his sword.

But Ichigo moved to the side, pushed off Renji's shoulder, and swung down ,slicing into Renji's shoulder. " Damn that hurt, you orange haired, little piss ant!" Renji growled at him. " But a lucky strike does not mean, you'll be able to stop us from killing you, taking back Rukia's power and dragging her back to the Soul Society to die!"

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed. _Back to the Soul Society!.. To die!_

"That's right, die…." Renji said ,holding his shoulder. "Just like will. But you know she tried to keep you out of this, and if you had, maybe you wouldn't have to die."

"Honestly kid, did you think that just because you managed to cut me, that you can win,?" Renji asked, sneering. You shouldn't underestimate me kid!"

"Actually, Renji, it is You who underestimated him, not the other way around" Said Captain Kuchiki, from nearby. "Learning to never underestimate your opponent, is a elementary lesson , you should have learned long ago, Renji"

Renji remained silent as Captain Kuchiki continued to speak. "This boy, Ichigo Kurosaki. According to footage recovered by the Secret Remote Squad, he is the one responsible for nearly killing the Menos Grande, the other day. He did so with only one swipe of his Zanpaktou."

Renji deadpanned before laughing loudly. " You gotta be kidding me captain, This kid wounded a Menos? Hahahahaha!"

"Renji, what did I just say about underestimating an enemy?" Byakuya asked, in a calm tone.

"But captain, look at his Zanpaktou, he obviously can't control his spiritual energy!" Renji said, not looking away from Ichigo. "By the way , that reminds me, what's the name of that monstrosity?"

"Name? you name your swords" Ichigo asked, looking confused. "Man , you Soul Reapers just keep on getting weirder by the minute."

"I figured as much, You don't even know it's name." Renji said, holing one hand over top of the flat side of his blade, near the guard. " and you really think you can beat me?"

"Your a thousand years to early Ichigo Kurosaki! .." Renji, said smiling evilly." Now roar! Zabimaru!"

He move his hand down the flat side of his blade as he said this , and before Ichigo's eyes, it transformed from an ordinary sword… to a strange and powerful sword, whose blade resembled large teeth.

"There Zabimaru,… look upon your pry and strike him down with out mercy!" he yelled out as he brought the blade down onto Ichigo, who struggled to block it with his own sword.

Ichigo didn't hold out for long though, as Renji's blade finally pushed down Ichigo's sword, and he cut into his shoulder. Ichigo fell to his knees with blood splattering to the ground in front of him. "There, strawberry, now we have matching shoulder wounds" Renji said, smirking. "And since you injured me and held out pretty well against my sword, I'll tell you this. A Zanpaktou changes it's shape depending on the Soul Reaper who wields it.

Rukia ran over and grabbed onto Renji's arm holding back, "Ichigo please, you have to get out of here! Please, I don't want you to die!"

Renji threw off hard, and sent her rolling into the wooden fence nearby. Ichigo's eyes turned white as he stood up. Renji looked over at him and his eyes went wide. Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure was rising fast, and quickly became so powerful that Rukia could barely breathe, and Renji was stuck on his knees.

Ichigo rushed forward as Renji summoned all his strength as rose to his feet and block Ichigo's insanely powerful sword thrusts. Swing after swing of Ichigo's sword came at Renji and he was loosing both his strength and a fair amount of blood as He managed to block Ichigo less and less. As Ichigo prepared to finish him off with one blow, there was a flash of wind, and the blade of Ichigo's sword was gone, broken off.

Ichigo looked around and then he saw Byakuya standing there quite a distance away, holding his missing blade in one hand. Before he could react at all though, Byakuya moved pass him so fast it appeared as though he teleported. When appeared on the other side, Ichigo fell forward as a huge spray of blood shot out of him.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed out in horror.

Renji was also frozen by the events that took place._ Damn… It's been quite a long time since I've seen Captain Kuchiki's flash step maneuver…I never saw him draw his sword or even sheath it. As it was I could barely seem him move past Ichigo. And if I could barely see it,.. Then this kid probably doesn't even know what happened.._

Rukia tried to get up and go to Ichigo , but Byakuya stopped her. "Do not worry Rukia, though deeply wounded, he will probably not die. I have destroyed the his link to your powers, and though its possible his Spiritual Pressure will return in time, he is no longer a Soul Reaper. At least until he dies and passes into the Soul Society some day. I have no doubt he is destined to become a powerful Soul Reaper when that time comes, but that day is neither here or now."

"Why…" Ichigo managed to say, despite the pain. " Why are you letting me live?"

"It's simple, we were never ordered to kill you, and too kill someone with so much skill and potential, would be a waste." Byakuya said, as he turned his head toward Rukia.

"Now are you prepared to come with us Rukia? Or do I need to unnecessarily finish him off?" Byakuya asked, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Rukia eyes went wide, "No! please don't! I'll go ..with you…" She said in a voice that became sad.

"Rukia wait!" Ichigo said putting his up to look at her.

Rukia's eyes filled with tears as she said. " Stay still before you die.. And please, what ever you do don't follow me or come after me… if you do .. I'll ..I'll never forgive you, Ichigo …"

Ichigo was powerless to move at all let alone stop her. He didn't understand why she would give up so willingly like this ,but he couldn't exactly do anything about it at the moment either. He could only watch as Renji hobbled over, holding shoulder, and thrust his sword forward, turned it and pulled it back. It returned to the form of a normal sword as he put it back into it's sheath. Japanese style sliding doors appeared and opened in front of them. Three black butterflies flew out_, _with one of them going to each of the three standing before the open doors. They all then walked forward in through the doors, and as they shut behind them, Ichigo could just make out Rukia's tear streaked face as she looked at him sadly. Moments later , his sight of the rain that begun to fall, slowly faded as darkness over took him….

It was some time later when Ichigo awoke. His eyes slowly opened, as he realized he was alive, not dead like assumed he would be. The black haired Soul Reaper had apparently not been lying to him about letting him live. He felt a strange warmth and weight on top of him. He open his eyes all the way, and looked down to see Hiyori sleeping , with both of her arms wrapped around his shoulders. She quite the mess in his opinion though, with only one of her pigtails was still down up , the rest of her hair was stickup every which way. She wasn't wearing her jacket, and her white tank top underneath was pushed up to the middle of her back. He also notice she had dried tears running down her face, and signature pointy tooth was clenched against her bottom lip so hard it had drawn blood.

As Ichigo moved some of her messy hair out of her face, he heard a voice from nearby. "you should let her sleep, Ichigo, she's exhausted"

He looked over and saw Urahara standing there by the open door. _So I'm in his shop huh?, _it didn't surprise him much, but the part a Hiyori had him concerned. "Why is she tired Mr. Hat and Clogs ?" Ichigo asked gently sitting up, while holding on to Hiyori, who was still sound asleep.

"Well when we felt your spiritual Pressure rapidly grow, then nearly disappear, we both became concerned and Hiyori raced off to find you" Urahara said, motioning for him to follow him.

Ichigo careful removed Hiyori's arms from around him and laid her down. He gave her a small smile , before following Urahara out of the room. They both sat down at a table before, Urahara continues talking. " When I arrived, I found you unconscious, with Hiyori crying and yelling at you at the same time. I barely managed to pull her away, and stabilize your wounds, before she latched on to you , still crying."

Ichigo's face flushed slightly, as he then remembered Uryu had been there , and injured as well. " What happened to Uryu?"

"He wasn't that badly injured so I patched him up and he decide to go home. He was concerned about you more then himself, and refused to come back to the shop with us to rest." Urahara said taking a bit of a Pocky stick, from a box on the table in front of him. He held out the box to Ichigo who took one and muttered a thanks." He also said he wasn't strong enough to beat them and If anyone stood a chance of saving Rukia, it was you"

"And how the hell am I suppose to do that?" Ichigo said growling. " I lost my Soul Reaper powers, and I couldn't get to the Soul Society, even if I hadn't."

"Oh really?, considering all you know about me, do you really thinks it's beyond my power to get you into the Soul Society?" Urahara asked, smiling. "But to do so , you must agree to train under me , in a special training program I've developed just for you."

"But we don't have time , we need to…" Ichigo started, before getting knocked to the floor by Urahara.

"Can you honestly tell me, that you think the training you've received from Hiyori, is enough for you to stand a chance in the Soul Society?" Urahara said, holding his cane over Ichigo face. Ichigo could feel a strange , but powerful sensation coming from it, like it was a sword or something. " Face it , compared to Those you'll face in there, your as weak as a baby. Going after Rukia now, would be suicide."

"But can I get strong enough , training under you, to save her?" Ichigo asked as Urahara pulled his cane away.

"Yes, if you believe you can. We will have the time of approximately 1 month and 1 week, so that means we have 2 weeks to train you, 7 days to open the Senkaimon, or spirit gate, and another 2 weeks fro you to rescue her once you get there." Urahara said, smiling evilly. " For the next 2 weeks , your life will be a living hell"

After eating Hiyori had woken up , and proceeded to yelled and pound her fist on him while tearing up and eventually crying on his shoulder. Urahara grinned like an idiot as this point, and said it quite adorable, but Ichigo didn't seem to understand how, asked Blankly " What do you mean?"

""You seriously don't know Ichigo?" Urahara asked , confused . When Ichigo shook his head, Urahara sighed and said "Well I'm sure you'll get it someday"

And with that, Ichigo ,who ended up carrying a sleepy Hiyori on his back, was escorted home by Tessai where he used a memory replacement on Ichigo's family. He gave hi ma warning that it might not work completely on his Sister Karin , due to her high Spiritual Pressure, and then bid him goodnight. Ichigo carried Hiyori upstairs, and sat down on his bed. He carefully laid her down , and after kicking off his shoes, he too laid down next to her, and promptly fell asleep himself.

The next day at school , which was also the last day before summer brake, seemed to go by in auto pilot mode for Ichigo. No one seemed to remember Rukia, like she had never been there, besides that it pretty much normal though.

He was currently walking home beside Hiyori. They were both seemingly lost in there own thoughts and didn't see Orihime when she walked up to them.

"Ichigo, Hiyori" Orihime said, getting their attention. "Where's Rukia? And why is nearly everyone acting like she was never here to begin with ?"

Both Ichigo and Hiyori went wide eyed at this question. And for the next few minutes they all sat on some nearby steps, and tried to explain some thing to Orihime.

"So she was dragged back to her own world?, I see.." Orihime said, looking downward. "And you wanna help her..?…. I'm glad, If our friend is in trouble then of course you should help her"

"Well to be honest I'm surprised you could see us all this time, I wish you had told us this.." Ichigo said, smiling a little.

" Yes, it was a real shock to see you in black robes and swinging a sword around…. Anyways Ichigo, even her family and friends are over there, she's in trouble so I bet you've decide to go rescue her as soon as possible." Orihime said, standing up " Well alright , I bet when you decide you went all serious and said " Hmm so she's in trouble huh? I guess I'll have to be the one drag her midget ass back to safety!" or something like that.. Hahahaha!"

_Man, _thought Ichigo, _She's been spending way too much time around Tatsuki and her fowl mouth. _

"Well Ichigo , Hiyori ,good luck and make sure your careful !" Orihime said, smiling.

"Well I gotta go and get ready, I'll be leaving in a few weeks, so .. I'll see ya later, Orihime, alright?" Ichigo said standing up , along with Hiyori.

Orihime nodded as she watched them run off. She pulled out her dell phone and dialed Chad's number. "Chad? It Orihime. I've decided I wanna step through that door Urahara was talking about…. save Rukia too."

"You do too? Great! Then lets get started , cause we have a hell of a lot of work ahead of us!" She said to Chad over the phone. ",… Huh? What do you mean I've been spending too much time around Tatsuki?…. Chad?…."

Meanwhile, in the Soul Society, Renji Abarai was walking down the hallway to the prison barracks. He grumbled "good morning" to two young female squad members how bowed to him as he walked by. He was angry at them, it was his shoulder and arm he was pissed about. It was in arm cast and sling and it hurt like hell. Apparently his arm was more messed up then he had though by the orange haired Soul Reaper. This also made him wonder if Captain Kuchiki really let him live, or just said it get Rukia to surrender quietly.

_Speaking of Rukia_, … he walked into the prison area and found her cell. She facing away from him sitting in a chair, and wearing white robes "So just how long are you going to sulk like this Rukia?" He asked leaning against her cell door. " I mean you haven't eating anything, since you got back ."

She turned her head and looked at him. "I'm not hungry, and I'm not sulking, Mr. lieutenant" She said, in a neutral, calm voice.

"What?, are you saying my new rank bothers you or something?" He asked angrily, as he leaned his face against the bars.

She turned her head away from him and said " Not at all, I'm sure you worked very hard . I'm so very happy for you .. You and your giant eyebrows, that just keep getting bigger by the minute."

"What you say you stupid little midget!" he yelled back at her.

"Oh , look I think there growing again, She said smirking, "Maybe one day they'll leave your body completely and change you to a dual or some thing?"

"Leave my eyebrow out of this you.. you stupid…mumble.. grumble.. midget….. " He growled out.

After a minute of silence, Rukia spoke again.

"….Renji?" She asked, in a now quiet tone.

"Yeah what!" he said angrily.

"Am I really going to die?" She asked. Looking to the floor.

"What? What kind of stupid question is that of your not going to die. I mean all you did was transfer your powers to a human." He said calming down, and standing up straight. "Your not the first person in the history of the Soul Society to do this sort of thing you know"

"Really?" She asked, looking back at him. "How do you know.?"

"Because, I read about it before. " He stated, in a matter-of -a-fact way. "Besides ,Captain Kuchiki is there now, and he's probably pleading on your behalf right now"

Rukia didn't say anything as Renji spoke again. " Besides, he's your big brother now , right?…. Well. adopted big brother…. But he point is he's not going to stand by watch you get killed."

"Your right Renji, he won't" Rukia said solemnly. " He probably be happier .. If he was allowed to kill me himself…"

Renji's eyes went wide, and he couldn't even speak when she said that.

"I've gotten to know him pretty well over the past 40 years , that I've been part of the Kuchiki clan" Rukia said, in a calm but angry voice. "And in those 40 years, he's never once, looked at me…"

END OF CHAPTER 12


	13. Chapter 13

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 13

It was back in the world of the living, and Ichigo , Hiyori, Urahara, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta all found them selves in the training grounds below Urahara's shop.

"Incredible!, we have ode again found our selves in this amazing underground training area!" Urahara exclaimed, standing there looking around. "And still we know not, where it came from!"

Hiyori growled, and walked in front of Urahara. " Bend down for a second Kisuke, I wanna tell you something before his training begins."

He did as she requested till they were eye level. "Yes my former lieutenant, what is it you wish to say?"

" Just this Kisuke,…" she said, clearing her throat. "Can you please stop acting… LIKE A DUMBASS!" She yelled as she pulled back her fist and punched him square in his face.

Jinta, and Ichigo just laughed as Urahara fell on his but with his nose bleeding. While Tessai, Ururu, didn't know what to say and simple stood there.

Hiyori smiled evilly at her handy work, as she sat down on a boulder. As Urahara stood up, and Tessai healed his nose, Ichigo stood by Hiyori, and patted her head gently. She blushed slightly, but shook it of as she said, " So are you going to train him or stand there, Hat and clogs?"

Urahara smiled , for more then one reason, and said. "Sure, that's the spirit.. In fact, speaking of spirit.."

He walked forward to Ichigo and tapped him in his head sending him flying out of his body and rolling across the ground. "Hey !, what the hell Hat and Clogs!" He growled, standing up . "and.. Why does it feel so strange to be out of my body?"

"Well this is the first time you've left your body, since you lost your powers right?" Urahara asked grinning, "You find that, quite a few thing have now changed."

Ichigo stood up, and felt out of breath. "Yeah it's hard to breath"

"That's because your just an ordinary soul right now. Your also connected by the Chain of Fate , because you no longer have your Saketsu, or the binding chain." Urahara said, putting his hands behind him. "This is where the chain of fate was once connected, and is just as important to a Soul Reaper as the Chain of Fate is to you right now."

"Now the first thing we need to do is to restore your Spiritual Pressure." Urahara said , walking over to him. " When you have your spiritual power returned to you , your body will be easier to control in this form, and you'll breath easier too."

While Ichigo appreciated a thorough explanation, he was still getting impatient. "Alright, enough! What do I do first , !"

"Yes lets us begin," Urahara said, smiling. "Ok Ururu! Your up !"

Ichigo looked over and saw… no one. "Uh, She's not even here , Mr. Hat and Clogs"

"What do you mean she's…" Urahara said, looking to the left. "…Not over there?"

"Hey Tessai! Go find Ururu, would ya?" Urahara called over .

Tessai gave him a salute, and ran off to find her. It didn't take long to locate her how ever, she was behind some rocks sitting. "There you are Ururu. Is something wrong?" Her asked her. "Cause Ichigo's ready for you to help him with the first lesson."

"I know.. But.. I don't.. want Ichigo to get hurt.." She said sniffling, as she held her head down.

"This is too help him ,Ururu." Tessai said calmly. "But if you truly do not want to do this, I will do it for you."

"Thanks , Mr. Tessai" She replied, looking up at him. "Just don't hurt him, please"

"I will do my best, Ururu." He said, walking away. "I'll simply tell the boss….. You weren't feeling well at the moment"

Tessai walked back to Urahara, Ichigo and Hiyori. "Hey boss, Ururu's not feeling well , so I'll take her place if that's ok" Tessai said , coming to a stop in front of them, carrying some gear in his arms.

"She's not?.. Well ok , you can do it then." Urahara said, turning to him. " Ok then! With out anymore distractions, it's time for lesson 1. All you have to do.. Is hit Tessai!"

Ichigo's face vaulted and if weren't real life, he swore his jaw would be scraping the ground about now.

He grabbed Urahara by his collar and dragged him close up. "Are you insane? Mr. Mustache man , there, is built like a brick wall, covered in cement!"

"No need to worry, the rules state the lesson ends when one of you can not move anymore." Urahara said to him grinning . "So knock him out ,before you get knocked out!"

"Is that suppose to make me feel better!" Ichigo yelled back.

"Ichigo, shut up. put on the protection gear, and get started!" Hiyori said, sitting back down. "You don't time to waste, remember?"

"The gear?, oh that stuff Tessai brought with him.." Ichigo said looking at it on the ground , where Tessai had put it.

" Ichigo.. " Tessai said , cracking his knuckles. " You better put that gear on.."

In a flash he was right in front of him with his fist drawn back. "Or I might kill you"

Ichigo barely had time to react, when Tessai brought his fist down and forward. There was a huge explosion and lots of smoke floating around. Tessai stood up and stretched his arm out. "I hope I didn't really kill him."

"So ..he's dead already?" Jinta asked , standing next to Urahara.

"Mmmm.. Nope! There he is!" Urahara replied, as Ichigo tumbled to a stop, and got up. "Oh he's charging Tessai !"

" Now he's running past him.." Jinta finished., looking confused. " What the hell is he doing?"

"Holy crap!" Ichigo yelled as he ran. " If he had actually hit me, I'd be a stain on the ground right now! I not sure what this stupid gear's gonna do, but it's better then nothing!"

He heard Tessai yell out "My apologies Ichigo! I didn't know you were too slow to dodge a simple attack like that"

Urahara and Jinta snickered at this until Hiyori said, "Leave him alone! In fact if you laugh at Ichigo again, .. I'm going cut off your balls, and string them up like Christmas lights!"

Needless to say, they both shut up, and slowly inched away from her.

Mean while, Ichigo was still running from Tessai, when he remembered the protective gear. He ran by it, grabbing it up as he passed it. "Hey Hat-and-Clogs! How does this work anyway!"

"Put it on, and then yell at the top of your lungs, Amazing headband of power, amazing armor of justice! Give me strength!" Urahara yelled to him, from the side.

"Right ! Amazing.. Wait a minute , I'm not saying something as stupid as that!" Ichigo said, before running from Tessai again, who pulverized the ground where he had been standing a moment ago.

"Not so stupid now ,huh?" Urahara said, smiling with a cheesy grin." You better put it on Ichigo!"

"Fine!" Ichigo said sliding to a stop. " Amazing headband of power, amazing armor of justice! Give me strength!" He closed the headband around his head, and slid the gloves on. " Now I'm ready!"

"Man I can't believe he said it.. Hehehehe" Urahara said, grinning behind his hand fan. "I guess I own you 5 bucks, Jinta"

"What the hell is wrong with you people!" Ichigo yelled, still running.

As Tessai tried to punch him, Ichigo dodged to the side. The boulder behind him was decimated, by the punch. " Holy shit! Amazing head band of power ,my ass!" He said , loudly.

As continued to doge the hits he had a revelation. _Wait a minute.. I'm out maneuvering him. And that means I can hit him back!_

Tessai leaped forward and tried to strike him, But Ichigo moved to the side, and brought his own fist forward. Despite dodging most of the hit , Tessai's glasses were knocked off his face by Ichigo's punch.

Tessai got a strange glint in his eye, which made Ichigo worry, but then he smiled and stood back. "Well done Ichigo" Tessai said, bowing to him slightly.

"Yes indeed, congratulations on passing lesson 1, Ichigo!" Urahara said, walking over to them.

"Yeah, not bad at all, Strawberry" Hiyori said, smiling at him.

"Um.. How exactly did I win?" Ichigo asked , as he removed his gear.

"Simple the lesson was about whether you could survive the first hit or not" Urahara said, holding a finger up." And you did just that,… so you passed!"

"The first hit.. Then why the hell.. DID YOU LET IT GO ON FOR SO LONG!" Ichigo yelled at him.

Urahara shrugged his shoulders. " Thought it was funny..?" hehehehe.."

"Yeah, real ha ha funny" Ichigo said, scowling at him.

"He's some water, Ichigo." said Ururu, who had appeared out of nowhere. She blushed and smiled as he thanked her and chugged the water down.

"Well there was another reason you know." Urahara said, suddenly serious. " When a soul is in danger the Spiritual Pressure returns faster."

"Right… now that I've got my Spiritual Pressure back, about the second lesson…" Ichigo said, standing up.

"Right away, Mr. Kurosaki" Replied Tessai, who proceeded to pull out a one handed axe and chopped through the middle of Ichigo's Chain of Fate.

"What the hell?" Ichigo and Hiyori yelled in surprise.

Urahara simply smiled and said. " Lesson 2 ..has begun…"

**x-Elsewere-x…..**

Chad and Orihime met up to discuss how they were going go about helping Ichigo save Rukia. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small black cat walked up to them. "Hello there, you two" it said.

Chad just froze, unsure of what to say or do. Orihime on the other hand, simply smiled and said " Hello there little kitty, who are you?"

The cat seemed to smirk at her manner of behaving. _Clearly this girl has a very outgoing personality… _the cat though.. " Of course , where are my manners, my name is Yoruichi, and I'm a friend of Urahara."

"In fact.." Yoruichi said, sitting on the ground. "I'm here to train you two."

"Training?.." Orihime asked, slowly as she stood there next to Chad.

"Yes, training." Yoruichi replied, his tale swishing back and forth. "If you want to go to the Soul Society and help Ichigo rescue Rukia, that is"

"Chad , Orihime, if your ready let's go it's time to begin" Yoruichi said, walking away.

"Right, lets get going!" Orihime said smiling and skipping along, while Chad walked stiffly behind her. "… Wait, Mr. Yoruichi, we need to see Uryu first. Can you find him for us?"

"Uryu, huh? Sure, that is quite a simple thing to do" Yoruichi said, as he stopped walking for a moment. " I'll simply follow his Spiritual Pressure, to locate him. Come along!"

Not far away, Uryu was sitting the forest meditating. "This is a good spot to , think things over, without anyone bothering me."

"Hey Uryu!" Orihime called out, as she, Chad and Yoruichi walked into the clearing. He looked up at them and was surprised to see them.

"What are you two doing here?.." He asked, raising one eyebrow. "And what's with the cat?"

A few minutes later….

"Training ?.."Uryu asked.. " To be strong enough to enter the Soul Society.. And you want me to join you?"

"Yup!" Orihime said happily. "Will you join us?"

"Well I ….who's your teacher anyways?" Uryu asked, adjusting his glasses.

"That would be I." replied the cat, who was then picked up by Orihime.

"See this is Mr. Yoruichi!" Orihime said, holding the cat up.

Uryu froze for a moment , and then freaked out " AHHH! A TALKING CAT!"

Orihime and Yoruichi looked at him in a strange way. " Why is it so weird? I don't see anything wrong with it." Orihime said, staring at Uryu.

"Indeed , I have no idea, why your so shocked, is it only males who are freaked out by this or something?" Yoruichi asked, as Orihime set him down.

"How can I not be freaked out!" Uryu asked, eyes wide, " Don't either of you see anything strange with it?"

Chad , who had been silent picked his head up and said "If it makes you feel any better Uryu, I'm still having a hard time dealing with it too.."

Uryu stood up and tried to restore his dignity. "Yes well… anyways… I must respectfully turn down your offer for training. I will not be joining you on your mission to rescue Rukia."

"Huh? Why not Uryu?" Orihime asked, in surprise.

"It's not that I don't care about her safety or anything, cause I do. It's just, I need to sort through things about myself, Soul Reapers and Quincys." Uryu replied, looking into the nearby stream. "That being said, I wish all of you the best of luck to rescue her. I hope you get there in time to save her."

"Oh.. ok then…" Orihime said, almost sadly. The she smiled and said " Then she should get going, right, Mr. Yoruichi?"

""Yes, indeed we should "Yoruichi replied, turning around. "fare well Uryu, perhaps we'll meet again… Now then, come you two, we need to go begin your training!"

As they left, he looked up at the sky and thought, _good luck Ichigo,….my… strange Soul Reaper friend…._

While Yoruichi was leading Chad and Orihime off to train, Ichigo and Hiyori were still freaked out by Ichigo 's chain of fate being just cut in half. "Why the hell did you just do that! Ichigo yelled , "Didn't you just say how important it was for me, not 2 minutes ago!"

"What are you doing, he's going die now Kisuke!" Hiyori cried out, pounding her fists against Urahara. "Why would you do this to him ?"

" Sorry, but I can not let you interfere in this critical stage, Hiyori" Urahara said, putting hand on her shoulder. "Hakufuku" The moment he spoke she saw purple flower peddles, and she immediately fell unconscious. Urahara caught her and set her down.

"Hiyori !,.. What did you just do to her!" Ichigo growled out.

"Now don't worry about her, she 's just sleeping." Urahara said. "Besides, you should be more worried about yourself, right now."

"Now that your Chain of Fate is cut, you can not return to your body." Urahara said, holding his fan in front of his face. "And if your left as you are , you eventually become a hollow."

"This will happen, when your chain dissolves away and then reaches your chest." He said, putting his fan away.

"A hollow! "Ichigo yelled "What am I suppose to do!"

"Easy.. To avoid becoming a hollow… you must become a Soul Reaper again." Urahara replied, grinning.

"A Soul Reaper again!" Ichigo asked wide eyed

"Yes, that's what this lesson, "Shattered Shaft" is all about." Urahara replied to him. "now then, release!"

The ground beneath Ichigo opened up, and he fell down , slamming into the bottom." damn ..that hurt!" Ichigo said, trying to move his arms, but unable to.

He looked and saw strange bindings going up his arms, holding them together . "What the hell is this?"

"I am sorry Ichigo ,but for this lesson your arms must remain bound like this, with Bakudo spell number 99, part 1, better known as,.. Kin." said Tessai, sitting cross legged across from him.

"HEY , Ichigo!" Urahara yelled down. "listen up, Here's what's going to happen. You need to climb out of the bottom of the shaft in 72 hours or less as a Soul Reaper or else you'll be come a hollow and have me kill you.."

"You.. want me to die!" Ichigo yelled back.

"Not at all, I have no wish to see you die, however if you become a hollow , I will have no choice." Urahara said, looking down at him.

Ichigo struggled to move only to fell tremendous pain, and saw the chains had teeth and were eating each other. Ichigo could only hollow in pain, as he lost consciousness.

It was sometime later the he opened his eyes, and saw most of his chain was gone. He cursed as he heard a skidding sound and saw Jinta standing there, holding a platter of food. " Hey there , carrot-top! I brought you some food, incase you get hungry… which you will be soon. The chain is almost gone and you've been down here for almost 70 hours now"

"70 hours! Are you sure?" Ichigo yelled out. " Why don't I remember much?"

"Probably the pain. Becoming a hollow is extremely painful, and your body forced you to sleep and try to forget about it." Jinta said, scratching his hair. " By the way, I should warn you, the last eating of your chain is so painful, it's beyond words"

As if by fate, the chain segments began to eat way until they were gone. Ichigo screamed in pain, and as Jinta ran up the shaft and out, white fluid shot out of Ichigo's eyes and mouth.

"Man that looks painful.. It's a good thing Ururu and Hiyori are upstairs, I don't think they'd be able to deal with seeing this." Jinta said looking down. "But either way, he done for"

"I don't think so, look carefully , Jinta" Urahara said, standing by him. "Normally a soul explodes, and then reforms before the mask forms… nut his soul is fine, even though a mask is forming"

"What does it mean?" Jinta asked , confused by it.

"It means, he's resisting and may yet become a Soul Reaper" Urahara replied, staring down into the shaft.

Ichigo's vision faded into blackness and he heard a voice "Ichigo… Can you hear me…?"

Ichigo opened his eyes and saw he was sitting on the side of a building in the middle of a city. "Where …where am I?"

"And who are you?" Ichigo asked, seeing a long haired man , balancing on the tip of a sword.

"Who am I?" The man asked. "What are you talking about! It is me….."

_I ..can't fully hear him.. _Ichigo thought sitting there. He stared at the man, wondering where he was and who the man was.

"You can not hear my name… This saddens me greatly." the man replied. "How many times must I cry out my name to you, before you hear me, Ichigo? There is no one in this world who should me like you do"

"What are talking about, I've never met you before." Ichigo said , scratching the back of his head.

The man looked at him, and said "It's surprising, how you can sit there like that, so casually."

Ichigo looked down and saw where he was, and started falling . The man shot down and fell along side him. "You should not worry, Soul Reapers are in control of death itself. …"

"I'm not a Soul Reaper anymore though!" Ichigo yelled back.

The man ignored his comment and said. "Do you remember when you were a Soul reaper, and could stand in the sky? Then try to feel it again!"

"What..?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"When Byakuya Kuchiki attacked you, he believed that destroying your connection to Rukia's powers, would mark the end of your time as a Soul Reaper. How very foolish he was." The man said to him as they fell. " He failed to realize that I hid your own Soul Reaper powers you had inside you from the beginning!"

"Yes, it has been a dormant part of you since you were born, but it was Rukia's powers that awakened them" He said to Ichigo. "In order to stop this world.. Your inner world, from crumbling away, you must find your powers inside one of these falling boxes!"

Ichigo looked up and saw thousands of small, white boxes falling from above. "How am I suppose to find them ?.."

The man, growled at him and yelled "Don not waste time! If you do not find your powers then this world will fall, and you will become a hollow!"

Ichigo fell down and the ground opened up and he hit water when he fell into the opening. He saw the boxes before him.. _How am I suppose to find the right one?… Wait a minute!_ _what was it Uryu said? _

"_did you know….." What was it?.. Did you know, Ichigo .. That Soul Reaper's Spirit ribbon is red instead of white, like all others?"…_

Ichigo grinned _That's it! _He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment he opened them back up and looked in front of him. He saw hundreds of Spirit ribbons and then.. _there!_ he saw it. A red spirit ribbon was sticking out of one of the boxes. He swam over and opened it., looking inside . " A hilt of a Zanpaktou?'

"Yes.. It is, Ichigo" the long haired man said, suddenly right by him. "I see you found it , well done"

He felt the whole area tremble. "ICHIGO WHAT ARE YOU WAITNG FOR? PULL ME OUT OF THE BOX! NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" The man yelled at him.

Not hesitating, Ichigo grabbed the hilt and pulled on it, everything become white.

**x-Meanwhile-x**

Back outside, in the real world Ichigo's hollow mask was nearly complete. Tessai stood up and yelled out "I can not wait anymore, I'm going into suppression mode! Bakudo number 99 part 2 Bankin!"

"First song,!" Tessai yelled, and White wrapping surrounded Ichigo's body ."Now Second song!"

Arrows shot into Ichigo's body and he fell to the ground. "And now.. Final song!"

A giant pillar fell onto him and there was a huge explosion in the shaft. Something shot out of the opening in the ground and made a small crater when it landed.

Jinta looked up and yelled out " Hey.. spikey head is that you? .. Is it him Kisuke?"

The smoke cleared away and there standing was Ichigo wearing a Soul Reaper's Shihakusho ( robes) and ..wearing the mask of a hollow.

Jinta was the first to speak "He's wearing a Soul Reaper's robes, ..but his has a mask.. Is he a Soul Reaper or a hollow?"

Ichigo lifted his arm up and grabbed the hilt of his sword in it's sheath on his back. He pulled out a sword that almost no blade just like it was made when Byakuya broke his sword before. Jinta got into a defensive position , ready for him to make his move. The then ,unexpectedly, slammed the hilt into the front of his mask breaking it into pieces. Ichigo grabbed a hold of the bottom of the broken mask and.. Pulled it to the side of his head, revealing his scowling face.

"Congratulations! you've become a Soul Reaper once more and passed lesson 2!" Urahara exclaimed happily. Only to have Ichigo ram the hilt of his broken sword into Urahara's face knocking him down on his ass.

"Shut up " Ichigo said, frowning at him. "Your lucky I didn't become a hollow, or I'd have ended up eating your stupid self first"

Urahara stood up , with his chin bleeding. "Since your in such good spirits, how about we get right to Lesson 3?"

Ichigo suddenly swung the nearly bladeless sword upward and nearly hit Urahara's head with it. "I'm ready when you are Urahara!" Ichigo said grinning.

Urahara grinned back and gripped his cane, pulling out a sword hidden inside it " So much power with a broken Sword… Impressive. Now are you ready… then lets begin!"

Upstairs Hiyori woke up and quickly remembered Urahara had used a binding spell on her."I'm going kick his ass when I get back down there,.. And he better not have hurt Ichigo!"

As she opened the door, she felt a strange wave of a Ichigo's Spiritual pressure. It felt like a mix of Soul Reaper's.. and a hollow's! Hiyori immediately recognized it and knew something had happened. _A Vizard! Just what the hell happened when I was asleep. _" And does this mean Ichigo is …a Vizard now?…

END OF CHAPTER 13

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, everyone. Please tell me what you think. Both good and bad comments will be appreciated. I should say now, I won't be covering Chad or Orihime's training, since it wasn't covered much to begin with and I want to focus on Ichigo and Hiyori for the most part.


	14. Chapter 14

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 14

By the Time Hiyori had made it down stairs to the training ground she was very angry and very tired. Why tired? Apparently there was a Kido barrier around the room she woke up in. It took nearly a day to get through it, and a lot of Spiritual energy. She climbed down the ladder and turned around to see Ichigo leaning over, out of breath. He was in a standard Soul Reaper's Shihakusho but he was holding a Zanpaktou that was enormous, maybe even bigger then his original was. Ichigo looked over and saw her standing there. "Hey Hiyori, good to see ya, Snaggletooth" He said with a grin.

She broke into a run and jump kicked Urahara in the side of his head, sending him into a nearby boulder. Jinta, Uryu and Tessai held up scoreboards, each of them with the number 10 on them. Ichigo just smirked, and before he could say anything, Hiyori jumped at Ichigo and he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain. But he felt warmth and opened his eyes to see Hiyori's arms wrapped around him, hugs him as tight as she can. "Hiyori? What's up with you ?" he asks, putting his arms loosely around her.

She looks up at him and gives a small smile." I was just worried, you moron" Hiyori says, blushing slightly. "If anyone should be asking "what's up", it's me. Like what's up with your Zanpaktou? Did you already achieve a Shikai release or something?"

Ichigo looks at her blankly. "Shikai? What's that?"

"Actually, Hiyori. Ichigo's Zanpaktou is a very rare full time release Zanpaktou." Said Urahara, who was wiping the blood from Hiyori's kick away. "This means ,due to his enormous and still growing Spiritual Pressure, Ichigo's sword stays in it's Shikai state permanently, unless he achieved Bankai or something…."

"So my Zanpaktou Zangetsu, is a rare type? Huh.. cool I guess." Ichigo said, wiping dirt off his face from his battles with Urahara. "In any case I think master Zangetsu and I will be just fine now."

Hiyori was about to respond, when she remember why she had raced down there in the first place. "Ichigo!" she yelled, despite being right in front of him. " When you got your powers back, did.. did you have a mask!"

Urahara looked nervous, _Uh oh.. This isn't good.. But she'd tell him even if I tried to stop her…._

"Hmm a mask?" Ichigo asked thinking back.. "Yeah I did as a matter of a fact, it was white with red marks on it, why?"

"Damn you Urahara! What the hell did you do!" Hiyori screamed. "How did he become a Vizard!"

"A Vizard?.. " Ichigo asked ,nervously. "What's a Vizard?"

She grabbed Urahara by his collar, and said, very loudly " A Vizard, is a Soul Reaper with the powers of a hollow! The characteristics include a hollow's white mask!"

Ichigo felt his blood run cold when she said that. " I have a hollow's powers?…." he managed to say. "Wait, are you sure!"

She turned to look at him with a sad expression. "Yes Ichigo, I am….. because I'm a Vizard too…"

Ichigo dropped to his knees. "What …what am I suppose to do?" He asked, in a frightened voice, with his head down.

Hiyori let go of Urahara , and walked over to Ichigo. She knelt in front of him and placed her arms on his shoulders. "Ichigo , look at me. Do you trust me?"

He looked up at her. "Ye.. yes I trust you."

"Then trust me when I say, I'm going to help you defeat the hollow within you," She said smiling. "When were done , you'll be in control and will be able to use your Vizard powers to help save Rukia."

"I will?" he asked, trying to gather up courage. "Then.. Then let's get to it."

He stood up ,gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I'm ready Hiyori, teach me to control ,this inner hollow thing"

She looked up at him. "Good then lets go," She said walking towards the ladder. "And meet the others."

"The others?" Ichigo asked , walking along side her." Other .. What.. Vizards?"

"Yep, other Vizards!" She said, out loud. "Kisuke , you've helped him restore his Soul Reaper powers, and unlock his Zanpaktou. Now It's my turn, to assist him.. Keep in mind I'm still pissed at you, but It will have to wait for a while. So consider yourself lucky.. Come on let's go!"

And with that Ichigo got back into his body, grabbed his recovered Gikongan dispenser, and followed Hiyori up the ladder. Tessai walked over to Urahara, and looked at him "Did you really think it would turn out like this for Ichigo?"

Urahara looked over at him and said. "There was a small chance, but I'm still disappointed it happened."

"I hope Miss Hiyori and the other Vizards can help him" Tessai said, looking up at the ladder.

Urahara took off his hat and looked up as well. He sighed and said, "Me too Tessai, me too.."

**-shortly later-**

Ichigo and Hiyori stopped in front of a huge warehouse after going quite a ways away from Urahara's shop. "So this the hideout you told me about?" Ichigo asked, standing and looking at it with his head tilted, "Seems kind of crappy."

"Yeah well, that's cause it is crappy." Hiyori said, smiling as she walked forward and knocked on a strange shield that surrounded the building. "But don't worry, cause it's even crappier on the inside."

A moment later a giant of a man came walking out. Ichigo gulped and looked at him in amazement. The man was very large, with a pale green business suit, yellow bow tie and pink colored hair and mustache.

"Ah ,hello miss Hiyori, welcome back, we've missed you." said the large man, politely. "Hmm? And who is young man with you?"

"Hello Hachi, good to see you too." Hiyori said, calmly. "This is Ichigo and I've brought him here for some "Assistance" of sorts."

The large man bowed down to Ichigo , slightly, and said. "Greetings Ichigo, my name is Hachigen Ushoda, but most people call me Hachi. I bid you welcome, friend of Hiyori"

Hiyori looked up at Hachi, and asked "Are the other s all here? This is kind of important."

"Yes they are as a matter of fact, just let me open you both a path through my barrier." Hachi replied, putting one hand on the shield. After a moment, a doorway shaped opening appeared and he motioned for them to walk through. He removed his hand and the shield sealed the opening back up. "Do not worry young Ichigo, although it requires me to let people in anyone can get out by walking through it" he said, noticing Ichigo looking at the barrier.

The three of them walked inside and Ichigo looked around to see the floors of the warehouse had been broken away. On them sat a number of individuals, who were engaged in other things until they sensed there were visitors and looked down . A young guy with yellow hair in a bowl cut shape and a sneer jumped down in front of them. "Hiyori , where the hell have you been for the past 3 weeks!" he asked in a irritated tone.

She frowned at him and said "None of your damn business, moron"

"Hey ,who's the cute guy with the orange hair?" A voice asked. Ichigo looked up to see a skinny girl with lime green hair, goggles, an orange scarf and a strange white bodysuit, jump down in front of them. "Hey there cutie, I'm Mashiro. Are you Hiyori's boyfriend.?"

Hiyori sputtered while Ichigo just stared at her, slowly shaking his head no.

"He's not my boyfriend Mashiro!" Hiyori yelled with a red face. She growled at her as she reached for her flip flop.

Mashiro put her hand of her chin as if thinking and then looked at Ichigo again. "So your not her boyfriend, ..do have a girlfriend right now?" She asked smiling .

"Shut up, you stupid perv, This is a serious situation!" Hiyori yelled ,smacking the blond guy in the face.

"Hey! What the hell Hiyori!" He yelled. "Why did you hit me for, punish Mashiro here , she's the pervert!"

"I hit you cause of your ugly face, Shinji ..now shut up and listen up everyone!" Hiyori called out. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki,….. and he's now one of us, a Vizard"

Shinji's face froze, and he said "A Vizard?… How is that possible? What the heck's going on here?"

Hiyori cleared her throat and said "Well it's like this…"

**Several minutes later…**

"….. And that's when he emerged form the pit as a Vizard" Hiyori said, as she finished explaining the situation to the others there.

"Man , what was Kisuke thinking?" Shinji asked. "He must have known this might happen."

Hiyori sighed and said "I don't know, but I couldn't exactly stop him, what with the Kido spell I told you he used on me."

" In any case we only have a short time, before the Soul Reaper who gave him his original powers gets executed , so he's been working hard to get ready to go to the Soul Society and rescue her"Hiyori sad, stretching her arms out

.

"Well As much as I feel for you kid, your on your own" Shinji said, frowning. "Sorry, but you'll have to deal with your inner hollow problem and with your suicide mission into the Soul Soceity after your friend on your own."

Hiyori smacked him with a flip flop again, "I don't recall asking your permission, we're helping him and that's final, got it?"

"Alright! let's help ,Ichigo!" Mashiro cheered, clapping her hands.

"Man you such an idiot, Mashiro." A tall, silver/grey haired man next to her said, looking irritated.

In response, Mashiro sticks out her tongue at him in a childish fashion.

Ichigo face vaulted as he watched this, and turned to Hiyori "So what do we do first?"

Shinji growled at being ignored and sat down grumbling under his breath.

"I'm glad you asked, Ichigo. Here's how it works." Hiyori said, grinning evilly. "You will enter your inner world, where you found your powers, and fight in a one on one battle against your hollow within. If you win you'll gain control of it's powers and be able to use it's mask to enter your "Hollowfied state"

"Are you ready?" Hachi asked, standing up.

"Yeah, let's take care of this!" Ichigo yelled out confidently.

Hiyori walked to him put her hands on his shoulders and said. "Very well, here we go"

"First, transform into a Soul Reaper, Ichigo." Hiyori said, folding her arms.

"Fine," Ichigo replied, swallowing his Gikongan, and exiting his body, which Hachi caught and gently laid down.

"Ok ,now what… He started to say. But as Hiyori's hand reached for his face, his vision faded into blackness only for him to awaken back in his inner world.

He was once again on the side of a building, only he wasn't falling down like before. He looked around and called out "Hey ..uh.. Inner hollow! Where are you?"

"Hehehe so we meet at last, king…" Said a voice from behind him. "You ask and here I am,… so brings you by for this visit?"

Ichigo looked behind him and saw himself, only pale whitish-grey skin, wearing a white Shihakusho and white hair. "Your …your me!" Ichigo stuttered out.

His almost-double laughed and said "I suppose that's true in a way,… in fact you might wanna just think of me as your.. better half…"

…**...**

Hiyori , Mashiro and Hachi all stood near where Ichigo's body lay after Hiyori jump-started Ichigo's inner hollow battle. Mashiro kept trying to lift up Ichigo's shirt cause she wanted to see if he was muscular, while Hiyori kept smacking her hands away from him. Finally Hiyori turned and looked at Hachi. "Alright Hachi, give a me 2 layered barrier that's ..say…25 by 25 feet."

"Of course miss Hiyori, one 2 layer barrier coming up" Hachi said ,putting his hands together. Moments later, A large square shaped, 2 layered barrier appeared in the area around Ichigo. "There, barriers established."

"Good, now seal his arms and legs too, Hachi" Hiyori said, walking over the barrier and looking in. "I've felt and seen how much power he gas, we can't underestimate him."

Hachi looked confused ,but nodded none the less. "Very well" he said putting his hands together again.

"Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, and silent to the end, Bakudo number 75, Gochutekkan!"

Five glowing disks, appeared and flew downward into the ground. Then five giant iron pillars appeared above Ichigo and slammed down on his limbs.

Hiyori looked over at Ichigo as he lay inside the barriers. And said "Now the real fight begins.."

Meanwhile inside Ichigo's inner world, Ichigo was looking around the area, ignoring his hollow self. His inner hollow laughed again and asked "What's with the expression, king? Are you looking for something?.. or somebody ,maybe?"

Ichigo looked at him, and asked "Where's master Zangetsu?"

His inner hollow (whom I'll refer to as Ogihci, or Ichigo backwards, from now on) grinned. "Oh he around.. In facts he closer then you think"

"Tell me, do you mean that sword you have there on your back…?" Ogihci asked, pointing at him " Or could you mean, this one I have here?" Ogihci pulled a Zanpaktou off his back and readied it.

"What? A white Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, in surprise as he pulled out his own Zanpaktou.

"You asked me where Zangetsu is…well it's simple.." Ogihci asked as jumped into the air and raced towards Ichigo "…I AM ZANGETSU!"

He laughed manically as he brought his sword down against Ichigo's, who struggled to hold him off.

Suddenly, in the real world the pillars on Ichigo cracked and shattered. "Here it comes everyone, prepare yourselves!" Said a female Vizard, who had glasses, braided black hair, and wearing a schoolgirl's sailor uniform.

Ichigo gripped the ground and after a moment, lifted his head, which had about half of his hollow mask already formed, and laughed insanely like. The girl with glasses walked up to the barrier next to Hiyori. "Open the barrier, Hachi. I'm going in" she said, looking at Ichigo.

A small doorway shaped opening appeared and as She started to walk she felt her sleeve being pulled on. She looked back and saw it was Hiyori. "Please…don't hurt him too much, Lisa." She said shyly, with a little redness to her face. "He's…important to me"

Lisa smiled and said. "Don't worry I'll do my best" with that she walked into the barrier, which closed up behind her.

Ichigo grabbed a hold on his Zanpaktou and stood up, grinning evilly. Lisa unsheathed her sword and said " I know you can't hear me right now, Ichigo, but before we do this, I wanna introduce myself to you. My name is Lisa Yadomaru, and If I survive this, maybe you and I can be friends"

Partially Hollowfied Ichigo rushed at her with his sword and as he did on the outside, Ichigo and Ogihci were locking swords as well. Ichigo pushed him back and said "Damn it, tell me where mater Zangetsu is!"

"You must be hard of hearing or some thing, king" Ogihci asked, laughing again. "How many times do I have to tell you,… I am Zangetsu!"

He drew back his sword and slammed it into Ichigo's ,knocking him back in the side of a building .

Ogihci putt his sword on his shoulder and looked down at Ichigo who was crouching in the small crater from where he crashed. "I'm starting to think your not deaf, but just stupid, so I'll try to explain things real simple like."

Ichigo stood up as Ogihci continued talking. " It's like this, Ichigo. You were becoming both a hollow and a Soul Reaper at the same time. You triumphed over your emerging hollow and ended up a Soul Reaper. But because you were so close to becoming a hollow, at the time you became a Soul Reaper that also had a hollow formed inside of you. I was fused with Zangetsu, who is both your sword and in many ways the source of your Soul Reaper powers "

Ichigo's eyes went wide "Then.. then that means.."

"That mean's I'm not lying when I said I am Zangetsu,… I'm literally, part of Zangetsu."

Ichigo didn't know how to respond to this information, and simply stood there.

"You can think of me as ..your horse that you ride into battle on.." Ogihci But I refuse to serve a weak king. Show me your worthy of being king of this inner world…and I'll gladly aid you as you face your enemies. But fail ,…and I' will be come ruler of your world and your body! Hahahaha !"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and gripped his sword. "So that means, If I defeat you, I'll control you, instead of you controlling me, right?"

Ogihci grinned, and said, "That's true… if you can actually manage to beat me, that is…"

Ichigo held out his sword and Ogihci did the same. They charged at each other swords swinging, each of the m fighting for dominance.

Back outside, Lisa slid to a stop, out of breath from fighting against Hollowfied Ichigo . Ichigo suddenly stood still and the bottom of his mask grew downward across his chest and covered more of his face. He charged at Lisa again, who did a handstand and spun on her hands kicking Ichigo in his face, sending him stumbling back. Just as Ichigo was about to slice into her with his sword, another Vizard with silver-grey hair, a tank-top, and plain pants blocked it by elbowing him in his stomach.

"Geeze, Kensei I could have handled it, you know" Lisa said, in an annoyed tone, as she wiped away some blood from her cheek.

"Be that as it may, I wanted some exercise too, so deal with it and get out of the barrier already" Kensei said bluntly.

"Yeah fine, just don't kill him ,or me and Hiyori will kill you." She said as she sprinted over to the opening.

"Since he's Hiyori's friend I can understand her, but why you? This is the first time you met him" Kensei said, looking back.

After Lisa exited and the opening seal back up, she turned and said "He's quite the worthy opponent for me, and I think I'd like to do some friendly sparing with him after this is over."

He nods to her , and then takes out his Zanpaktou. "all right I'm Kensei Muguruma , and I'm going to kick your ass, Ichigo."

He held out his sword and yelled " Now blow it away, Tachikaze!"

His sword changed shape and shrunk into a combat knife. "Alright ,here.. we… go!"

Ichigo and Ogihci both stood apart from each other, and both had wounds. Ichigo had large gashes across is abdomen while Ogihci had gashed on his shoulders and right arm.

Ogihci took a deep breath and said "Well, your doing surprisingly good, king. But it doesn't mean you can win…"

Ogihci thrust his sword into Ichigo's midsection, and out the other end. "I did say you were good, but you just don't have that killer instinct to win this battle or any battle for that matter. That's why you couldn't stop Rukia from being captured, and that's why after I kill you, I'm going to enjoy torturing and killing your little girlfriend, Hiyori… I bet she's a real screamer..!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, which glowed white. He then gripped the sword and pulled it out he as growled and yelled. "I'm going to kill you! I'll never let you lay even one finger on her!"

Before Ogihci could even react, Ichigo shot forward and plunged the word into him and pinned him to the wall behind him. He took a hold of his throat and squeezed it as Ogihci coughed up blood and weakly said " well *cough* I guess your not as weak as I though *cough* you were."

Ichigo just held the sword with one hand and Ogihci's throat with the other. Ogihci coughed up more blood and said" Well you, did it, ..you beat me fair *cough* and square somehow. So for now, I'll be your horse.. But remember, If you ever weaken…. I'll knock you off your throne and take over *cough, cough*."

He began to fade away and as he did he said "I'll be watching , king…."

**Back in the real world…**

Kensei had fought, and traded off with another Vizard with brown hair in star shaped points, a bluish-green jogging suit and sunglasses, named Love Aikawa. He had been fighting for about 5 minutes or so with a now completely Hollowfied Ichigo, when Ichigo stopped moving. Cracks begin to appear in the hollow armor and Hiyori yelled to Hachi to open the barrier for Love as he ran away from Ichigo. As the Vizards watched, Ichigo screamed and the armor broke away, leaving a normal, but injured, Ichigo wearing his hollow mask. As Hachi dropped the barriers, Hiyori raced forward and caught Ichigo just as he collapsed forward, and his mask fell off and onto the ground near him.

Not far away, Mashiro was biting her nails, nervously. "Hachi, will Ichigo be alright?"

Hachi nodded and said yes he will as they watched Hiyori lower Ichigo to the ground and lay his head on her lap. She smiled and let her one pointy tooth poke out from the top of her mouth. "Way to go , strawberry."

He looked at her and smiled back, and said "yeah ..thanks, snaggletooth..". then he passed out, and Hiyori just sat there, and ran her hand through his spikey hair as he slept.

Off to the side Shinji growled and mumbled out nasty things about Ichigo. He didn't last long though as Lisa smacked him in his head with one of her magazines , which were rolled up into a tube. "Cut it out, Shinji, your just jealous about her relationship with Ichigo"

Shinji turned his head towards Lisa and growled. "First of all, I'm not jealous about her and the orange haired moron… and second of all they are not in a relationship!"

He stood up and stomped away, yelling out " I'm getting something to eat, damn it"

For the next 5 days Ichigo spent nearly all his time with the Vizards, as he trained to keep his hollow mask formed for long periods of time. After a couple of days of intense training with Hiyori he managed to keep it formed for a maximum of 25 minutes. Hiyori removed her own Hollow mask and said " Alright, lets take a break for lunch, Ichigo"

Ichigo reluctantly removed his own mask and walked over to Hiyori. "Are you sure, I'm getting better , so shouldn't I practice more?"

"No, there is such a thing as over kill when it comes to practicing" Hiyori said, leading him along towards the table, by his wrist. "You can practice more later,… for now we eat"

They sat down at the table along with the others at begin to pull out the food from the bag Love had brought from a convenience store. Mashiro sat on one side of Ichigo, asking him weird questions as she usually did and ended with her asking him on a date. Again Hiyori growled at her, while Kensei smacked Mashiro in the back of the head. Ichigo just ignored her and ate his lunch and talked to Hiyori about random stuff.

Ichigo fit in with the other Vizards pretty well over time as he was there. He found he had a lot in common with them as well. He would read Shonen Jump manga magazine with Love and another Vizard with long blond hair, black pants and jacket and a frilled under shirt named Rose Otoribashi . He would also do friendly spars with Lisa, and Kensei and was taught Shogi by Hachi. The only one he didn't get along with was Shinji. They constantly butted heads, about nearly everything you could imagine, from whether the curry they were eating was to spicy or not spicy enough, to his belief that Ichigo was spending to much time with Hiyori.

"Ichigo, I think you should take the next 2 days that are left before you leave to the Soul Society and rest." Hiyori said, eating her rice ball.

"What? Why?" Ichigo asked in surprise." I can use those days to train some more."

"True, you could. But you've only taken short breaks between spars with me and Lisa these past few days. You need some serious down time to relax in" Hiyori said looking at him. " I need to take care of some things , so I won't be able to train with you anyways."

"Oh.. Then I guess I'll see you …in a few days?" Ichigo asked getting up to throw his paper plate in the nearby trash can.

She smiled at him and said "Yeah don't worry , I'll be there you big baby"

"Good to hear , you snaggletooth midget" He replied back, grinning as walked out the door "Well I guess I'll see the rest of you around when I get back. Lisa, Love, Hachi, Rose,Mashiro,Kensei and uh… helmet haired boy, I'll miss you guys /girls, and I'll like to come back here and hang out with you all after I save Rukia"

Mashiro ,Lisa and Hiyori all gave him Hugs and the others, minus Shinji who just nodded and frowned at him, gave him hand shakes before he turned and left.

"I'm gonna miss, berry boy" said Mashiro, sighing. As most of the others agreed.

"Yeah, I'll definetly miss him too, Mashiro.." said Hiyori , in a saddened tone. "Well I need to think about some things, so I'll see you all later, and if anyone bugs me , keep in mind I will gut you"

With that, she walked away to her room leaving the other to talk amongst themselves. "Isn't too bad , he left?" Mashiro said, stirring around her instant ramen in it's bowl. "He got Hiyori to open up so much, way more then she ever did to us"

Rose nodded, "Indeed he did, Mashiro, and It was quite obvious they've developed deep feelings for each other as well" He said , drinking some of his tea. "Even if neither of them will admit it."

Upon hearing this, Shinji stomped out of the room swearing as he did.

"What's his deal?" Mashiro asked, with a mouth full of food. "Does he like her too or something?

"Stop talking with your mouth full, you idiot, it's disgusting" Kensei said, sneering at her. "And he does have a crush on her, only he's too stubborn to say anything"

"Well that's his loss, and Ichigo's gain" Replied Rose, simply, which everyone agreed to, before returning to their lunches.

**Not long later…**

Ichigo arrived home and got a large amount of hugs from his sisters , Yuzu and Karin, who had been extremely worried about him not coming home for the past week or so. After he hugged them back and apologized for not saying anything, he hung out with them for a couple of hours, before getting ready for bed. Before he went up stairs, he announced he would be taking a trip for the summer with some of his friends. Despite protests, mostly from Yuzu, and a few from Karin as well, they didn't change his mind on this. He bid them both good night, and as he fell asleep he, wondered about a lot of things, like if he could really save Rukia and.. About what a annoying, and sarcastic, but still great person Hiyori was, and how was gonna miss her while he was gone. As he drifted into slumber land, his last thoughts were, _She's really something else that's for sure… I even think… I might like her too…. At least.. A little bit…_

END OF CHAPTER 12

Here's another chapter, that I hope everyone enjoys. Please read and review. See in a few days with another chapter, peace for now.


	15. Chapter 15

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 15

It was the 6 days after Ichigo had finished training with Hiyori and the other Vizards. He met up with his friends Keigo and Mizuiro, after Keigo had called and Mizuiro wanting them to meet up. The three met up and began talking about what they were going to for the summer.

"Hey, Keigo!, Isn't the fireworks festival tonight?" Ichigo asked, looking bored . "So why did we meet now ,it's only like 3'oclock."

Keigo freaked out "What do mean only 3! I've been waiting for this fireworks thing forever!, In fact I never went to sleep last night I was so excited!"

"Geeze, your like a little kid or something, isn't he Mizuiro?" Ichigo asked, standing up and stretching.

Mizuiro took a sip of a juice bottle he had with him. He offered another one to Ichigo before answering. "Yeah it's just like Mr. Asano here to act like a child."

"Hey I'm not a child!….and why didn't you bring me a juice!" Keigo asked ,whining. "I want a juice! I want a ju… oof!"

Keigo was kicked out of the way and when Ichigo and Mizuiro looked over , the saw Tatsuki, Orihime and Chad standing there. "Man, all he does is whine like a little bitch, doesn't he?" Tatsuki asked walking up to the others.

"Yeah he certainly does.. Wait Tatsuki your arm!" Ichigo exclaimed walking over to her. "What happened to your arm, are you alright?"

She gave Ichigo a small grin and held up her arm which was in a cast. She then said "Yeah , don't worry strawberry, I'm fine. I hurt my arm in the female Valdo competition."

"Oh how'd you do anyway?" He asked, offering her some of his juice.

She took a seat on the steps behind her, and said " Because of my arm getting injured, I only got second place, kind of pissed me off too"

She took the juice from Ichigo and took and long gulp before handing it back "Thanks, I needed that, It's kind of hot out huh?"

Keigo was standing there, eyed wide, and finally said "What are two doing, sharing a juice!" He raced over to them and said ""You guy's were practically swapping spit.. Kissing even!"

Ichigo turned a little red in the face before telling Keigo to shut the hell up. Tatsuki's face also turned a little red before she said " Get your little mind out of the gutter, Keigo. Me and Ichigo have been friends since we were 4 years old, it's not the first time we've shared drinks, sheesh!"

Keigo finally shut up and Mizuiro suggested they walk around till the fireworks start. They all agreed and soon the group were all walking along the river bank.

After a a few hours of walking and talking they came to a stop when they heard some one from behind them yell out "There you are ! Hahahaha!"

Ichigo groaned as he recognized the voice and looked around to see his dad, and his sisters Yuzu and Karin run up to the group. "Ichigo my son, never fear, your father and sisters are here!" Isshin Kurosaki yelled out.

"Ichigo !"Yuzu cried running up and jumping on to him. He barely had time to catch her before Karin also ran and jumped on him and sent him tumbling down the small hill. Isshin didn't seem to anticipate this and also jumped, only to hit air and fall down the hill on his own. When Ichigo stopped at the bottom of the small hill, he was on his back with Karin and Yuzu sitting on him and trying to get him to eat some of the festival snacks they had gotten. "I love you girls too, but your crushing my spine and stomach.. And all of my other organs too."

The others had various reactions. Chad and Mizuiro stood there with normal calm expressions, Tatsuki and Orihime smiled and Keigo whined about how it wasn't fair that Ichigo's sisters were so sweet to him while his on sister was a demon in disguise.

After Isshin recovered from his fall, he stood up like nothing had happened and said " The reason we came to find you , is too tell you about the front row seats to the fireworks we scored!"

Almost everyone there followed him as he ran off to where the fire works were being held, except Tatsuki, Orihime, Ichigo and Yuzu.

"Ichigo, can I have a piggy back ride?" Yuzu asked, standing next to him.

"Sure, sis" he said, crouching for her to get on.

Ichigo stood back up with Yuzu on his back and said "Hey Tatsuki, sorry about my moron of a dad bothering you guys, if you don't wanna come you don't have to"

Tatsuki gave him a mischievous grin and said " Don't worry so much, It was just like when we were younger, I kind of missed his stupidity, actually"

"In any case, you can do on ahead, me and Orihime will join you guys in a few minutes" She said , and then grinned " So save us a seat alright, Strawberry-chan? Hehehe"

Ichigo growled slightly but then grinned back and said, No problem, Tats-hime, we'll save you two some seats."

With that, Ichigo and Yuzu walked off to find the others, leaving a slightly confused Orihime and an embarrassed and red faced Tatsuki behind.

"Uh Tatsuki?" Orihime said, standing next to her friend. "Why did you call each other by those names?"

Tatsuki's face had finally returned to a normal color and she said " I told you how Me and Ichigo were really close when we were younger right? Well I use always called him Strawberry-chan ,cause of his hair. In return, he always called me a princess like that cause he knew knows I hate anything feminine."

"Oh I see.." Said Orihime looking out up at the sky as it grew darker out. "Well we haven't been out here in quite while have ?"

Tatsuki walked over to her and said " Yeah your, not since last year."

"Um Tatsuki,…" Orihime said, somewhat sadly. "I'm going to be going away to my, uh , grandmother's house for the summer, so tonight might be the last I see you for awhile."

Tatsuki looked away for a moment ands then turned back to Orihime. "That's fine , as long as you come back to me. Now enough of this depressing shit, let's go find Ichigo and the other losers!"

With that, Tatsuki grabbed Orihime's wrist and they ran off to find there friends and enjoy the fireworks.

**Later after the fireworks….**

Ichigo was walking home with his dad, who was carrying a bag of souvenirs from the nearby festival. With both arms full, this left Ichigo to carry Yuzu and Karin, who had both falling asleep. He was giving Yuzu and Karin piggy back rides. "Damn it's awkward as hell to carry them both like this." Ichigo said, as they walked. "Why'd you have to buy all that crap for?"

"Get into the spirit of thing's my boy!" Isshin replied, laughing.

"Yeah right.. Listen old man, I'm going on a trip with my friends for a while and I'm not sure when I'll be back"

"Ok, that's fine, have fun" Isshin replied happily. "If you meat any cuter girls, be sure get me some phone numbers"

"You're a friken perverted moron, dad." Ichigo said "But I'm surprised , you don't care if your 15 year old son leaves on a trip"

"I trust you Ichigo, so don't worry about it" Isshin said , walking up along side him. " By the way, here take this"

He put a small bag thing into Ichigo's pocket. "What is it?" Ichigo asked, adjusting his Karin, who began to drool on him " Is it.. Oh gross! Why does Karin have to drool, she as bad as Hiyori is , sheesh!"

"It's a charm, your mom gave to me a long time ago. So I'm loaning it to you" Isshin said seriously. "By the way, how are thing's going with my third daughter Hiyori?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ichigo asked grumbling, as they reach there house/clinic. "Stop assuming things….. Anyways ,all I wanna do is get some sleep, cause tomorrow, I'm leaving for that trip."

"That's fine, just help me put your sisters to bed first" Isshin said, unlocking the door.

They walked in and Ichigo and Isshin carefully laid Karin and Yuzu down on there beds. After a goodnight to each other, Ichigo and Isshin went to their separate rooms and soon fell asleep.

After waking up, eating breakfast and getting lots of hugs by his sisters, who didn't want him to leave again, he made his way to Urahara's shop. After he arrived there he was surprised to Orihime, Chad and Hiyori standing there by Urahara's shop.

"Chad, Orihime what are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked coming to a stop. "

"Hiyori kicked him in his knee-cap making him drop to his other knee. "What the hell Ichigo, We don't see each other for a while and you don't have the courtesy to say anything to me?"

Ichigo growled at the subsiding pain and pulled Hiyori forward into a small hug. He pulled back after a minute and stood up. "There, happy snaggletooth?"

Hiyori's cheeks were red, but she nodded none the less. Aftera moment they heard a voice say "Well , it seems your all here,"

They looked and saw Urahara standing there grinning. "Well come on in, we need to get moving ."

Urahara led them into the shop, and down into the training grounds. Orihime spun around. And said "Wow ! It's so fucking big down here!"

Chad, Ichigo and Hiyori all though the same thing, _Man ,she really need s to stop hang around Tatsuki's fowl mouth, it's getting worse by the day.._

"Can I have your attention please,?" Urahara said, standing by a large doorway shaped object. " normally a Soul Reaper enters and leaves the Soul Society through what's called a Senkaimon. Now listen up as I tell you how to go through it. But first…"

He pushed Ichigo in the forehead with the end of his cane, transforming him into a Soul Reaper. Chad caught Ichigo's body while Orihime poked it and asked if he could fell her poking him even though he wasn't in his body anymore.

Ichigo scowled out no, while Urahara said "Alright, now where was I? Oh yes, the gate"

"Unlike a normal Senkaimon, this one is equipped with a device to convert you all, except Ichigo of course, into spirit beings," He said, patting the side of the doorway." Right now only Ichigo can pass-through the Senkaimon without this"

"Kisuke , you forgot to mention, that if they don't make it through to the Soul Society in 4 minutes or less, they'll be trapped forever in the Dangai Precipice, or the area between our worlds" Said the black cat, Yoruichi, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Remember you must have no doubt , no fear or can't come with me when we go to the Soul Society."

"Then let's go already, Yoruichi" Hiyori said, using a Gikongan pill to get out of her body. " All you do is talk, when were wasting time"

"Uh ,Hiyori, your not going with us, so were not wasting your time" Yoruichi said , looking at the gate.

"Uh yeah I am" Hiyori said growling. "And don't start with "It's too dangerous to go there!" crap either. Ichigo's going to need my help. Besides, I want to help him…"

"You realize that you will face dangers that might even be greater then the ones Ichigo, Chad and Orihime will face, right?" Urahara said, in a serious tone.

She nodded, and stood next to Ichigo, while, Tessai and Urahara activated the gate. After the middle of the doorway glowed with bluish-white energy, Urahara turned to the group behind them "Are you all ready? Remember that once you enter, don't stop running till you reach the other side.. Otherwise you won't come out at all"

Hiyori jumped on to Ichigo 's back ,despite his protests, and Urahara ,said.. " Then go!"

With that, Ichigo, Hiyori, Chad ,Orihime, and Yoruichi ran through the energy and into the gate.

The trip was fairly uneventful, minus having to run as fast as possible, thanks to the area around them collapsing faster then Urahara said it would. They arrived at the other gate and jumped out expecting to hit solid ground, except, they were several feet in the air. They all fell down, with Chad catching Orihime and Yoruichi, while Ichigo fell flat on his face and Hiyori on his back.

"Come now, stand up and stop flirting, Ichigo ,Hiyori" Said Yoruichi, jumping out of Chad arms, who had stopped her from falling.

Both Ichigo and Hiyori turned red and they quickly got up standing next to Chad and Orihime. Ichigo looked around the small city they had landed in. "Huh …so this is the Soul Society? Looks like ancient Japan or something"

"This is the Rukon district, the poorest but freest city within the Soul Society" replied Yoruichi, calmly.

"Then what's that over there?" Ichigo asked pointing to the large white wall with a white colored city inside it.

"That is called the Seireitei, it's where Soul Reaper live." Replied, Hiyori. "And before you even think of running over there, a gate and very large, very strong gate guard will rain down his wrath on you, so don't even try it."

Ichigo growled, as said he wouldn't. "Well then, what are we suppose to do ?"

"Simple. We find Kukaku Shiba, and see if they can help us." Replied Yoruichi, walking forward.

"Kukaku Shiba? Who the hell's that? Hiyori?" Ichigo asked, looking down at his friend.

"The name Shiba sounds kind of familiar, but I've never heard of anyone named Kukaku." Hiyori said, after thinking for a moment.

"In any case. We need to moving before they discover our arrival." Yoruichi said, walking away. "Hurry, Kukaku lives on the very outskirts, so It may take some time to get there."

"So where does this Kukaku person live, Mr. Yoruichi?" Orihime asked, looking down at the cat with her hands on her knees.

"To be honest, I don't know the exact location, only that's it's always open the outskirts of the city." Yoruichi replied. "Now come on, were burning daylight as they say"

The group made their way through the city, and into the country side. The soon came up over a hill where Yoruichi told them to stop. "There, is Kukaku's house."

Ichigo and Hiyori's face froze when they saw the place. It was a small, old fashioned type of Japanese house.In front of it , it had two giant arms holding a banner that said _No wonder Kukaku doesn't live in the city , they were probably kicked out! _Thought Ichigo, while Hiyori had similar thoughts of _I don't anyone know I went it a house with arms hold a banner!_

Two giant ,twin men with mustaches appeared out of nowhere. One wore a white shirt and attached robe, red hat with white tussles, and a light blue scarf. The other wore similar clothes, except a yellow colored shirt and robe.

"Halt who goes there! Who are these people Koganehiko" The man in giant said.

"I'm not sure, Shiroganehiko, but one then has the robes of a Soul Reaper" The other man said . "And look the blond one also has a Zanpaktou, very curious!"

"What the hell? Guards?" Ichigo said reaching for his Zanpaktou.

"Hello there you two, long no time no see, gentlemen" Said Yoruichi, walking out from behind Ichigo.

Both men's eyes went wide, and they said together "Master Yoruichi, please forgive us , we had no idea you were here!"

"Don't worry about it, but please if you would, bring us to Kukaku" Yoruichi, said looking up at them.

The two led them down a large flight of stairs, until the came to the bottom and a large pair of sliding doors.

One of the giants walked up to the doors and slid it open a little ways. He put his head in the opening and said "Master Kukaku, a most honored guest and their friends have come to pay you a visit, we will show them in, now"

"Please, enter" The man said, opening the doors all the way.

They all entered with Yoruichi in front. The two giant men closed the doors behind them and They all looked forward.

"Huh.. Well, well. Long time no see, my old friend, Yoruichi." said a woman sitting down on a cushion.

She was a woman of about 5'6" with long, messy black hair covered partially in bandages. She wore a white skirt and a very small red robe that barely covered her enormous breasts She was also missing her right arm and had in its place a strange metal arm covered in weird black designs. This was topped of with a sword of some kind on her back.

Ichigo, Hiyori, and Orihime and exclaimed " She's a woman!"

She laughed lightly, and said. "The last time I checked I was"

Kukaku sat up and said "So Yoruichi, brings you, and these kids here?"

Yoruichi walked forward and said " I need your help, Kukaku."

She grinned and replied. "That's usually the reason you track me down, but after not seeing you for 100 years, why should I ?"

"You better, help us you balloon chested bitch!" Hiyori yelled out, shaking her fist.

Kukaku looked over at Hiyori and raised one eyebrow. "Your quite a rude and perverted little boy aren't you!"

Hiyori's grew vary angry and had steam shooting out her ears. "Boy? You calling me a little boy? I'm a girl you dumbass, a girl! You wanna see my boobs? And have me prove it too you !"

Hiyori tried to rip of her shirt until Ichigo quickly reached down and picked her up, putting her over his shoulder. She yelled he was a moron and pounded on his back. "Uh sorry about that. She cranky some times." Ichigo said ,grinning in a cheesy way. " But trust me, when I say she a girl"

"Hahahahaha!" Kukaku laughed out, before saying. " Relax I knew when was a girl, I was just screwing with her."

"Now then Yoruichi, does what you want involve danger, and possibly death?" Kukaku asked, leaning forward.

Yoruichi nodded and Kukaku said " Good, then I'll help"

"Now even trust you, I don't know your friends yet, so I'll send my brother with you." She then said. "Hey Ganju, get your worthless ass out here!"

A voice from the other side of a sliding door said " Ok, Here I come sis!"

Out from the door, came a tall, muscular man with short black hair. a white robe, green vest and a green bandana. On his back was a short sword hanging sideways. He looked up and said " Hello, my name is Ganju Shiba the self proclaimed…. What the hell!"

He stood up and said in a angry tone "Would someone mind telling me why a stinking Soul Reaper is in my house!"

Before he could walk forward though, Kukaku brought her metal fist down onto his head knocking to the floor and unconscious at the same time.

"Well it appears as though I need to have a little chat with my pathetic excuse for a little brother. Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko! Bring our guests to the chamber and wait outside of it with them."

The two giant came into the room and asked the group to follow them. "Except for you carrot top, I would like you please to stay here for a few minutes with me and Yoruichi." She said in surprisingly respectful tone.

"Uh , sure…" Ichigo said, walking over to her ,while Hiyori just laid there over his shoulder , bored.

"I met for you to go with the others too ,blondie" Kukaku said, standing up

"And why should I ? so you can shove his face in your watermelon sized breasts?" Hiyori yelled out. "I don't think so!"

"You got a very strange fixation with breasts ,little girl " Kukaku said , with a weird look on her face looking. "Relax you'll get your own breasts when you grow up, so just do as I say , and follow the others"

Hiyori growled loudly "Why stupid Fu-"

"Hiyori" Ichigo said, putting her down. "Please go with the others , I'll be there shortly, alright?"

She looked like she going to say something, but nodded instead and she ran out the door. She poked her head back in and said "If you make a pass on him I'll rip off your metal arm and beat you t death with it, got it, jugs?"

She then closed the door, leaving Kukaku, Ichigo, and Yoruichi there alone

Kukaku reach out and took a gentle hold of his chin. She turned his head a few different ways. "There's no doubt about it, you're the splitting image of Kaien"

"Who Kaien?" Ichigo asked, looking confused.

She released his face, and looked sad. "My.. my brother."

"Yoruichi, is it possible , this boy here…. Is he… the reincarnation of my dead brother?" Kukaku asked, sitting back down.

"Hmm.. It's certainly not impossible. Minus the hair color, he could pass for his twin." Yoruichi said, sitting down himself.

"It's a shame, when a spirit is reincarnated, they don't keep their memories" She said, sighing. "Wait! The reincarnated .. Would still be in the same family line ,right!"

"Your right, He could be considered part of your family.. Lie ..your nephew or something" Yoruichi said, thinking.

"Wait a sec, are you two talking about?" Ichigo asked, vary confused by the conversation.

Yoruichi looked up at him and said " I assume you know about the circle of transmigration, correct?"

"Uh ,yeah I think Rukia explained it to me once." Ichigo said, scratching his head. " Some thing about souls that to go the Soul Society, are part of it and eventually reincarnated , right?"

" Correct, Ichigo. When souls in the Soul Society die they are sent back to earth and reincarnated, usually as a son or daughter to someone with the family he originally came from."

"Uh, just one problem with that. I was born the Kurosaki's, not Shiba's" Ichigo said, looking at them.

"Tell me, besides your immediate family, how many other Kurosaki's are there?" Yoruichi asked.

Before Ichigo could answer, Yoruichi then asked " And the last names of your parents, obviously only one of them had the last name of Kurosaki before they were married."

"Uh.. I'm not sure.. I know my mom's was Kurosaki.. But I'm not sure about my dad…" Ichigo admitted, sitting down.

"Then it could be possible that your father is connected to the Shiba clan in some way , isn't it?" Yoruichi said.

"Uh I guess it is…"he responded… " But wouldn't he have had to come from the Soul Society himself?" Ichigo asked standing back up. "Or did he just become part of the trans majiggy circle thing"

"We may never know, for sure, but based on your appearance and other similarities as well, I would say at least one of those things are highly possible." replied Yoruichi.

"Well that's good enough for me, Ichigo ,was it? Consider your self my little brother from now on ,ok?" Kukaku said, grinning. " For now though, I want you to go wait with the others, ok? , we'll be there in a few minutes"

"Uh sure thing, Kukaku.. Uh I mean.. sis" Ichigo said, smiling slightly, and opening the door. "By the way. When this is over, Maybe I'll tell you about my two little sisters I have back at home"

After Ichigo left, Yoruichi said " You know, even though there's at least a 90 percent chance he your reincarnated brother, … well-"

"Don't Even say it, Yoruichi, If I want him to consider himself my brother, then he's my brother , alright!…" Kukaku said, cutting Yoruichi off. " In any case, it's time you told me why you're here, and kind of help you had in mind"

**Meanwhile, in the Squad prison area…**

"Rukia.." Said Renji, opening the door to her cell. "As you know ,originally Central 46 had deemed you guilty and passed a judgement of you being executed in 1 month and 1 week's time.**"**

" However.. now that there are only 14 days remaining, you must be transferred to the Repentance Cell, to await your execution" Renji said, somewhat hesitantly. "I'm here to escort you there"

"Fine.." Replied Rukia, standing up.

4 men dressed in long white robes white robes, with there faces covered in white cloths, used a strange Kido spell to bound her hand together, to a thin band around her neck. Renji then led them to a tall white tower and they all walked inside. She walked up a nearby widow and looked out it.

"Do you see that Rukia, the Sokyoku?" Renji asked, standing there by the white robed men. "That's the future instrument of you death."

One of the men walked over to her ,and put a finger on her wrists, which were bound behind her and said " Now your hands, I release"

The four thin ropes that were connected to the band around her neck, and were tying up her hands, unwrapped themselves and pulled inside of the neck band.

"Come lieutenant, we must leave now" the man said walking back to the others

Before they could say anything, Renji walked forward and put his hand on Rukia's shoulder. "I shouldn't be telling you this, .. But apparently , a group of intruders appeared via a illegal Senkaimon in the Rukon district. Now I've been told that among these intruders, was a Soul Reaper with orange colored hair and a Zanpaktou as long as he was"

Rukia turned around and her eyes became huge. After she turned around , she said, in a almost whisper.. "Ichigo…"

END OF CHAPTER 15

Well, please read, review and enjoy. I'll be back with a new chapter in a few days, peace till then.


	16. Chapter 16

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 16

Renji Abarai had just finished bring Rukia to the Repentance tower, and couldn't forget how Rukia had reacted to the news that Ichigo was truly alive like Captain Kuchiki had promised, and that he was here, in the Soul Society. _The way Rukia's face lit up in relief of him being alive…. Not that I can blame her. I honestly thought Captain Kuchiki was lying about letting the kid live…_

"Hey, a yen for your thought, Lieutenant Abarai?" Said a voice, from ahead of him, breaking his train of thought.

"Oh, Captain Kyoraku!" Renji said, in surprise. "What brings you here, to the Squad 6 barracks?"

The man in question was tall, with long brown hair in a ponytail, a thin beard and a straw hat. He also wore a standard Soul Reaper's Shihakusho and long, thin white jacket, called a captain's Haori, and this was topped with a pink, flowered kimono

"Oh, just taking a walk.." Kyoraku replied in his usual, easy going tone. "…And trying to avoid the paper work, my Lil' Nanao is trying to get me too do."

"I see,." Renji said, standing still the as the captain walked up to him

"Hey Renji, Can I ask you something?" Captain Kyoraku, asked , lifting up his hat slightly. "In your lieutenant's quarters, if you don't mind"

Renji raised an eyebrow, but agreed, all the same. He led the captain into his small office, and closed the sliding doors behind them. The both took a seat and Captain Kyoraku took off his hat before talking.

"Renji, don't you think this whole thing with Rukia, is blown a bit proportion?" Captain Kyoraku asked, in a calm tone. "I mean ,giving her powers to a human has been done before, but the punishment was never like this.. I mean death by Sokyoku ? Doesn't that seem strange to you."

Renji didn't know how to respond and just said "Yeah it is strange.., Captain Kyoraku"

Kyoraku nodded, and then said "Me and Jushiro were talking and think something's going on, what exactly, we don't know yet. Oh and call me Shunsui, my friends all do"

"But sir that would rude to address a captain by his name!" Renji said, somewhat loudly. ".. And what do you mean something's going on?"

"True , But I did say to call me it, so please do. In any case something has to be going on here, for such a petty crime to be treated like a capital offence." Shunsui said standing up , and grabbing his hat. "In any case I just wanted to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a booming voice, erupted from the loud speakers,

"ATTENTION ALL CAPTAINS! AN EMERGENCY MEETING HAS BEEN ISSUED IN REGARDS TO A GROUP OF INTRUDERS ENTER WEST RUKON A SHORT TIME AGO. ALL CAPTIAN SHOULD REPORT TO THE SQUAD ONE BARRACK, IMMEDIATELY!"

"Well, it looks like we'll have to chat later, Renji" Shunsui, said putting his hat back on and opening the door. "Please excuse me"

With that He walked out the door and left. This left Renji to think about what the captain had discussed with him. _Just what IS going on here?…_

**Meanwhile ,back at Kukaku's house…**

Kukaku, Yoruichi, and Ichigo had joined up with the others out side of a door where they had been told to wait. Kukaku dismissed Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko and then turned towards the door.

"Uh , excuse me, miss Kukaku?" Asked Orihime ,standing next to Chad. "How does this place have light without , lightbulbs?"

Kukaku turned to her as she opened the door in front of them. "Simple, I use special light emitting plants, called firefly creeper vines."

"Now then lets go in shall we?" She said waling in ahead of them.

"Hey sis, sorry I'm late" Said a tired looking Ganju, who had a bandage on his head. "Oh uh.. Ichigo was it? Sorry about earlier… uh.. bro"

"Oh ..uh, sure. That's ok I guess.." Ichigo replied, not sure what kind of talk Kukaku had giving Ganju after him and Yoruichi had waited out side of her room before joining them again." So what's in …this.. Room"

They all looked and in the middle of the room was a giant object that looked like a round chimney or something.

"So what the hell is this thing, jugs?" Hiyori asked , looking up at it and saying what was on everyone else's mind.

"You really need to stop calling me that, you little pervert.." Kukaku said looking at the tube herself. "In any case this, is what I'll use to get you all into the ,Seireitei ..and I'll do it using the air.."

"The air!" Many of the other said ,simultaneously.

"That's right, my new found, little bro, Ichigo" Kukaku said wrapping her arm around his shoulder, which had Hiyori burning holes in the woman with her eyes. " Or I'm not Kukaku Shiba, number one fireworks expert in the Rukon district!"

Ichigo didn't know what to say, fortunately, Hiyori did. "What the hell does fireworks have to do with getting us into the Seireitei !"

Instead of answering her, she yelled out " Koganehiko!, Shiroganehiko! Raise us up!"

After a few minutes the both entire floor they were on and the round tube rose up and up until it was raise several feet above the grass covered ground, outside the house. After the platform came to a stop Ganju yelled out "Behold the Flower Crane Cannon!"

Kukaku growled and punted him off the stage area with one swift kick to the face. " Thanks for stealing my line you moron! In any case, I'll be shooting you all there, using it!"

"Um.. how?" Ichigo asked, still confused.

"Here, catch Ichigo" Kukaku said, tossing him a clear ball with pink crane engraved onto it. "That's a Reishukaku or spirit core. All you gotta do is put your spirit energy into, and you'll see what is does."

"Actually, Ichigo can't use his Spiritual Pressure at all" Said Yoruichi, stepping forward.

"Are you serious, your a Soul Reaper, Ichigo" Kukaku said, surprised. "And you can't use your spiritual energy?"

"Thanks to Hiyori and Hachi, I actually CAN use my Spiritual Pressure somewhat." Ichigo replied, holding the sphere and concentrating. "I'm not perfect and it takes me a moment or two, but.. I can ..Do it!"

After a moment A huge sphere of clear energy formed around him. This surprised everyone there except Hiyori, who grinned and walked near him.

"Hiyori, you taught him to use his Spirit energy? When ?" Yoruichi asked, looked up at her. "Kisuke never mentioned this to me."

"Yeah well I did some more training with him after he regained his Soul Reaper powers and I noticed how bad his control was." Hiyori replied looking at Yoruichi. "He might not ever have perfect control though, because according to Kisuke, Ichigo's current power level is about equal with a 3rd seat , but it will continue grow rapidly to a level that might be off the charts."

"So this kid has too much Spirit energy..? Huh.. Sounds like this could be a good thing" Kukaku replied , smiling. " In any case, while your sphere is good, it's a bit unstable, and needs a bit of work. Go ahead and slowly release it already though."

Kukaku cleared her throat, to make sure everyone was listening. "Now pay attention,… what Ichigo just created is also called a cannonball. This will be used to get you all inside the Seireitei."

Chad finally spoke up and asked "Why do we need a cannonball to get in?"

"Glad you asked, the reason, is that the walls of the Seireitei are made of a special rock that repels spirit energy on all sides, creating a kind of shield that surrounds and protects the Seireitei from all sides" Kukaku said, in a serious tone. " You can't get in from above or below, so you'll just have to punch a big ol' hole in it!"

Everyone's eyes were big, but nobody spoke. "Now any questions?, good, didn't think so. Ganju, get these brats downstairs to practice making spheres of your own." Kukaku said, looking at them all. "Oh and take care of your bleeding nose already, would ya?"

Ganju stood up and said, "Sure thing sis, follow me everyone." He led them off while holding his bleeding nose.

"Except you , Ichigo, and Hiyori, I want you two to stay here with me" Kukaku said sitting down, cross-legged " Ichigo here is now part of the Shiba clan, and I'd like to get know him better. And you, your his friend, so you'd probably want to know about this, right? So take a seat already"

"But shouldn't I practice my sphere thingy?" Ichigo asked, sitting down next to Hiyori ,who seemed shocked by this news.

"Don't worry about, we won't launch for a till tomorrow and your technique is good as is." Kukaku replied looking at him. " So, I bet you wanna know why you're he's member of my clan now, huh, Hiyori?, and I bet you, Ichigo, wanna learn about our clan, right?"

They both nodded and Kukaku grinned. "Good, let's break out some sake and have ourselves a chat!"

"Hey I'm only 15 years old, I can't drink!" Ichigo protested, staring at her.

"Well I said your going to drink, and your going to like it.." Kukaku said, grinning evilly. " Or do you wanna see your big sister get…angry at you?"

Needless to say, after seeing her wrath unleashed on Ganju he wisely agreed to drink with her, and Hiyori also, reluctantly agreed as well.

**Meanwhile**_**, **_**back**__**inside the Seireitei…**

Renji and the Lieutenant of Squad 7, Tetsuzaemon Iba, were walking to go and meet up with the other lieutenants, who had been told to gather up, due the intruders in the Rukon district. Iba was man with short black hair, an thin mustache, and sunglasses. He wore the normal robes of a Soul Reaper, and currently his Squad 7 Lieutenant's badge, on his arm. His Zanpaktou seemed to be hidden from sight , unlike most Soul Reapers.

The two of them walked into the room near them, they saw only 2 lieutenants present, Momo Hinmori, the Lieutenant of Squad 5 and Izuru Kira, the Lieutenant of Squad 3. Momo looked up at them from her spot on the floor where she was sitting.

"Renji, Tetsuzaemon." She said, sitting up. " It's good to see your both here."

Momo was a short, female Soul Reaper with purple hair pulled backing a ponytail, and a standard Shihakusho and a Squad 5 Lieutenant's Badge She had the look of worry in her big brown eyes, and bags under them as if she hadn't been able to sleep.

"Hey, there you two" said Izuru, Standing up and walking over to him.

Renji and Iba both gave him greetings back. Izuru was average height Soul Reaper with bond hair, that covered one eye. His Soul Reaper uniform was also a regular one and so was his Squad 3 Lieutenant's Badge.

"Hey Momo, you don't look like you've been sleeping lately, something wrong?" Renji asked kneeling down.

"Um.. I've just been able to get a full night's sleep for the past couple of days." She replied, putting head down. "I've also been worried about Captain Aizan, I haven't seen him anywhere."

"Sorry, I haven't him in person in several weeks to be honest." Renji replied. "By the way, where are the other lieutenants ?"

"Probably scattered around, what with intruders and what not." said a slurred voice, from the doorway.

They all looked over and saw Rangiku Matsumoto stumble in, clearly drunk off her ass. She clumsily made her way to a chair and sat down. She was a beautiful female with long, and wavy, golden blond hair, a pink scarf draped around her shoulders, a standard Shihakusho that was opened very wide to reveal her comically oversized breasts and a large white sash holding around her waist tied into a bow. She also loved to drink instead of doing paperwork. She put her forehead on the table and moaned about a headache.

"Geeze and I though Ikkaku and Iba were bad about their drinking" Renji said, laughing . Your captain's going to kill you… by the way who is your captain ,anyway? Rangiku?.. And she's passed out, nice.."

"I'll field this one," Said Iba, also laughing. " Her captain is that little genius, Toshiro Hitsugaya, from Squad 10."

"Huh, I don't know who I feel worse for, Rangiku here or her captain" Renji said, still laughing.

**Back at Kukaku's place..**

After Chad and Orihime finished practice with creating spheres like Ichigo had, Ganju came up to them and said. "Before you grab something to eat, ..can you two, uh, tell me about Ichigo?"

Orihime and Chad sat down to catch there breaths, from using a lot of spiritual energy.

Orihime spoke first " Well, Ichigo's a really great guy, who always looks out for his friends!" She said, beaming, "In fact that's the reason he wants to rescue Rukia, cause she's his friend"

Chad nodded in agreement and said " I think Ichigo feels like he owes her something, from when she helped to save his family from being killed by hollows. Ichigo wants to pay her back for this"

"I see… this seems like he's some else huh?" Ganju said , leading them to get food.

A half hour later, everyone got some sleep for the next day, when they would break into the Seireitei. Well everyone except Ichigo who had both passed out from drinking only a couple of glasses of sake and Kukaku and Hiyori who passed out themselves soon after.

The next morning led to a bit of embarrassment for Ichigo and Hiyori. Ichigo laying down in the ground outside on his back, which was fine. But Hiyori had ,at some point taken off her jacket and pants and was laying across his stomach in her underwear and tank-top that pulled down on one side. Kukaku had laughed her ass off upon see this, though Ichigo, who beyond red in the face, managed to slide her off of him, and had Kukaku redress her. He managed to get Kukaku to agree to not say anything to Hiyori or the others, though she was sorely tempted to tell at least Yoruichi about it.

Soon after everyone came upstairs ready to get there mission moving along. "Ok then Just one thing I should tell you ,before we begin." Kukaku said, stand next to the launch tube. " I've decide to go with you into the Seireitei, while leaving Ganju, in charge here."

"But, Kukaku, are you sure that's wise?" Yoruichi said walking up to her. "You were banished from the Seireitei , a very long time ago, it's true, but your still well known around the Soul Society"

"Relax, Yoruichi it'll be fine, I'm not a little kid or something ," She said back to Yoruichi "Besides. I can't let you all, have all the fun can I?"

Ganju wanted to say something, but knew how stubborn his sister could be. But he did grab a hold of

Ichigo's collar and say " You better take care her , she's now your sister too. Remember that, Ichigo!"

Ichigo nodded confidently, and said "Even though Kukaku can take care of her self, You can bet I'll still watch her back, just like I do for my two younger sisters, back home"

"Now then, since that's settled, we'll use a slightly modified launch method number 2" Kukaku said, painting a large circle around the launch tube. " I'll get in with you and have Ganju use a fire Kido to ignite the painted out circle around the tube, while I say the special incantation to launch us"

"Now, everyone inside!" She yelled out. "Ganju, my house better be standing when I get back or I'll take it out on you , got it?" She said , eyes narrowed

"Everyone pour there spiritual energy into the spirit core!" Yoruichi, yelled out to the others around him. " And remember, stay together and if you encounter any Captains, get out of there as fast as possible, understood, our goal is rescue Rukia, not get into brawl with everyone. Alright!"

Everyone nodded and Kukaku began to speak "The sun's rising , so here we go! Far away! copper colored greed desires the domination of 36 degrees!.. 72 pairs of legends! 13 pairs of horns! The right paw of the monkey captures the star!"

Ganju lit the painted circle with a fire Kido and moved back away from the launch area.

Back inside the tube Kukaku was simultaneously finishing the incantation. "Embraced by the 25 wheels of the sun, the cradle of sand will flow with blood!"

The fire on the outside circle shot up the side of the tube, and Kukaku finished the spell. "Flower Crane Cannon number 2, Kakisaki Blossom!"

And with that the sphere mad of Spirit energy, shot up into the air with Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, Hiyori, and Kukaku inside, all with there hands on the spirit core, in the middle. Then Kukaku pulled a scroll and Said, "I'm going to red this silently so I need as much quite as you can please. Oh and if you feel someone putting too much or too little spirit energy into the core, let them know ASAP, to prevent the core from becoming unstable."

"What's that scroll for ?" Ichigo asked, concentrating on the core.

Yoruichi answered him. " It controls acceleration and direction. It will steer us towards the Seireitei, where we will punch through the shield and get inside"

"Now concentrate, everyone!" Yoruichi said, looking at them all.

While they were flying towards the Seireitei , the Captain had been waiting for Squad 3 Captain, Gin Ichimaru to arrive, so they could begin there captain's meeting . Finally the doors of the Squad 1 Barracks opened and he walked in. Ichimaru was a tall, very thin man with short silver hair. He had a normal Shihakusho and Captain's Haori, but his eyes which were always in narrowed slits like a snake, was far from normal. His thin and creepy smile also added to the allusion of his snake-like appearance.

"You are late Captain Ichimaru!" Replied a very old man sitting in large chair at the head of the room while the other captain's stood in two rows, facing each other. This man was both the captain of Squad 1 and the head-captain of all thirteen squads, Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. He had a very w long white mustache, eyebrows, and a even longer white beard, which was braded . His wore a standard set of Soul Reaper robes, with his Captain's Haori draped over his shoulder, rather then worn normally. He also had a large 'X' shaped scar across his forehead.

Gin gave his creepy smiled and said " My apologies, Head-Captain. I was detained with my squad."

The head captain leaned forward in his chair. "I could care less about your excuses as to why you were late!" The Head-Captain said , his voice booming out, " I am more interested in why you felt the need to not interfere with those intruders that appeared in the Rukon area, when you were very close by you!"

"That's right Ichimaru." Said a very tall, muscular male captain with spiked black hair, and an eye-patch. He also had normal Soul Reaper's robe that were wide open, and ragged Captain's Haori that had ripped sleeves and a large scar run down the entire length of his face. This man was know as the Captain of Squad 11, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.

"Those intruders appeared near the Rukon gate, which you were strolling by at the time." Kenpachi said, angrily. " So why did you ignore the threat, and let them escape, instead for fulfilling your duties as a Captain and a Soul Reaper?"

Gin simply said in response, " I guess I wasn't paying attention and didn't know they were there"

"Ain't that some grade A bullshit?" Kenpachi replied, sneering. " A captain ,unable to sense Spiritual Pressure? As if that's even possible. You just fucked up and don't want to admit it , right!"

The Head-Captain had waited long enough and said. "That's enough Captain Zaraki!"

"Captain Ichimaru, He does bring up come excellent points and as such you will be taken to the prison cell area, to await punishment for this transgression. Immediately!"

He slammed his tall wooden cane on the ground in front of him and 4 members of the Stealth Force appeared. They all took a hold of Ichimaru and in a flash, they were gone with him.

"Now then -" Captain Yamamoto was cut off from what he was about to say, by a loud alarm.

" ALERT!, ALERT! INTRUDERS IN THE SEIREITEI!" A loud voice said on the loud speakers. " ALL SQUAD MEMBERS REPORT TO YOUR DESINATED SQUAD BARRACKS"

Kenpachi grinned " Maybe it's the ones from before!.. Time to have some fun!"

With that, he darted out the door before anyone could stop him. As the other captains were dismissed, Kenpachi ran down the outside corridor and heard a voice say " Hey Kenny! Wait for me!"

He looked up and saw his lieutenant jump off the top off the roof and onto his shoulders. He never stopped moving as she jumped onto him. His lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, was a very short girl with pink hair, large, dark pink, almost red eyes and a constant blush on her cheeks. She gripped onto her pink hilted Zanpaktou by a sash tied around the sheath, as she held onto Zaraki's shoulders.

"Kenny, are we going to carve some people up into bloody chunks?" She asked , excitedly.

"Calm yourself, Yachiru." Kenpachi said as they ran. "What have a told you about talking like that?"

"Umm… not to be so graphic?" She asked, in a unsure voice.

"That's right, next time say something like.. Uh… We are going to kill our enemies" Kenpachi said, back to her.

"Yes sir, Kenny!" She said happily, as they ran to have some fun.

Meanwhile, The spirit cannonball crashed into the shield membrane and as the Soul Reapers inside the Seireitei watched in confusion, It broke through and it shot the ones in it across the sky inside the city in three different directions. Ichigo and Hiyori shot to the right,Kukaku and Orihime shot off to the left, and Yoruichi and Chad shot forword.

Ichigo and Hiyori eventually stopped moving forward and started moving downward and fast.

"Crap!" Ichigo yelled out as he held an arm around Hiyori's waist. "We're going to hit the ground! Any plans to keep us alive!"

"Just one , a Kido spell!" Hiyori yelled back. "Just one problem!"

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He asked looking over at her as they got closer and closer to the ground.

"I'm not very good at it and I can't hold it for very long, so I'll have to do it close to the ground." Hiyori said , holsding one hand outward.

"Doesn't matter, just do it!" Ichigo yelled at her, eyes wide at the ground they were nearing.

"Fine!" She concentrated and said " Now stretch and hold, gathering waves of energy! The right hand of kami reaches out and save his followers with the five points of power! Bakudo number 37, Tsuriboshi! ,Suspending star!"

A busrt of blue energy shot out her hand and and grew large. It shot out five sticky rope-like points that anchored to the surrounding walls and caught Hiyroi and Ichigo lowering them to the ground slowly before shattering and dropping them the remaining 1 foot drop.

They both got up,dusted them selves off and started walking. "So where would Rukia be held at anyway?" Ichigo asked, looking over at Hiyori.

"Hmm… either at the prison cells or.. Maybe the Repentance tower." Hiyori replied, looking up at him. "I cant't be sure,-"

"She's at the Repentance Tower right now" said a voice from above them.

They both looked up to a bald Soul Reaper standing there grinning. He jumped down in front of them and said " If your looking for Rukia Kuchiki, then that's where she is. And if you can make it past me then you might get there."

They got a better look at him now. He was bald, had faint red makeup on the outer edges of his eyes with an ordinary Shihakusho . He held his purple sheathed Zanpaktou over his shoulder and grinned like a mad man.

"I'm the 3rd seat of Squad 11, the strongest Squad of the 13 court guard squads, Ikkaku Madarame!" He said , looking at them, with a evil smile. "And while today may be lucky for me, it is most certainly unlucky for you two!"

Both Ichigo and Hiyori gritted their teeth and pulled out their own Zanpaktous. No one move or spoke but they knew this would be a most annoying and dangerous obstacle to overcome.

Not far away, Chad and Yoruichi and landed in a tree and were waiting for some low ranked Soul Reapers to leave the area while a few miles from them Orihime used her Santen Kesshun to break the fall of herself and Kukkaku who in turn used Sepia to turn the ground beneath them into sand.

All of them were about to start there dangerous to journey to rescue Rukia, the only question, was would they get there in time.

END OF CHAPTER 16

Please enjoy and review. Another chapter will be up in a day or two. Bye for now!


	17. Chapter 17

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 17

"Hey.. Hey little girl! Wake your ass up , Orihime!" Yelled Kukaku, shaking the shoulders of Orihime, trying to wake her up.

Orihime had somehow been knocked unconscious during the fall and Kukaku trying to wake her from some kind of weird dream she was having.

"Oh.. Ichigo.. That's right.. Be gentle with me, it's my first time, hehehehe…."Orihime mumbled in her sleep.

Kukaku was laughing so hard her sides were aching. Suddenly Orihime shot up, wide awake. "Huh.. Oh Kukaku.. Your not Ichigo" Orihime said sitting up. "….not that I was dreaming about him or anything!"

"Right ,of course you weren't, that's why your face was and still is bright red." Kukaku said, snickering. " And I'm sure you moaning and telling Ichigo to be gentle with you was also my imagination."

Orihime's face was even redder and could speak. Kukaku then stood up and stretched. "Come on ,we need to get moving"

They were about to walk when a strange man with purple hair and a Soul Reaper's Shihakusho, walked up to them. "Why hello there, my name Yumichika, the 5th seat of Squad 11."

He brushed his hair out of his eyes in a feminine way and said. " I must say, you have simply gorgeous skin, what type of moisturizers do you use?"

"Huh?…" Orihime said, unsure of what to say. "Are you a Soul Reaper?"

"Why yes, I- hey get back here you two!" Yumichika yelled, as Kukaku grabbed Orihime's wrist and ran off.

As they ran, Orihime asked. " Why are we running from him, didn't he say he was a 5th seat ? Doesn't that mean he wouldn't be that strong if we actually had to fight?"

"You obviously don't know anything about the ranks in Squads here, Orihime" Kukaku said, pulling her along. " He claimed he was a 5th seat, but his power feels like Lieutenant class. Even though I could probably defeat him , I wouldn't be able to watch out for you."

"But I.." Orihime started to say

"No buts, Orihime your suited for defensive and healing, not combat" Kukaku said, slowing down. "you just don't have what it takes to kill people, but don't worry, your purpose is just as important ."

"You know, it's not a very beautiful thing to run" Said Yumichika, who came around the corner ahead of them.

"Shit!" Kukaku said coming to a stop with Orihime._ Guess I'm not gonna to have any other choice but to fight him, I question is how keep Orihime safe while I do?…_

"So your not going to take no for an answer, are you?" Kukaku asked, smirking somewhat. "Then I guess I'll have to take you down."

"If you can ,then by all means, give it your most glorious effort" Yumichika replied, pulling out his Zanpaktou.

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with your crap." Kukaku said, staring at him. "So I'll have to deal with you quickly."

"Is that so then, this is in order," Yumichika said, moving his hand over his blade. "Now bloom for me, Fuji Kujaku!"

His blade changed shape until it was smaller, and sickle-shaped. " Behold, my Zanpaktou, the instrument of your destruction." Yumichika said, grinning.

"Even in Shikai form, It won't do you any good." Kukaku said, closing her eyes, and pointing her hand forward. " I guess I'll have to injury you enough to keep you from getting in our way."

Kukaku opened her eyes and said " Bakudo number 30, Shitotsu Sansen"

Kukaku drew a triangle in the air with yellow energy and the three points shot at Yumichika pinning him the wall behind him. She took a deep breath and walked up to him.

"You insane woman! Release me at once!" Yumichika yelled angrily.

She ignored him and put one finger on his forehead. She then calmly, said " Bakudo number 29, KyouseiJinjifusei."

With that he slumped over, and was only held up by the yellow beams of light from her previous Kido spell. His Zanpaktou also returned to it's sealed state. Orihime looked scared, and dropped to her knees. Kukaku saw this and walked over to her, kneeling down till she was face level. " There's no need to worry, Orihime I just knocked him out, and in about 2 to 4 hours he'll be awake again. Pissed as hell, but alive."

"Ok, miss Kukaku.." Orihime said ,shakily standing up.

"Now Then our goal are to find Ichigo and rescue this Rukia person, Right? So let's get moving again, before anyone else shows up. Kukaku said, frowning. "Those spells I used kind of drained me a bit, so I'd rather avoid any other major opponents right now"

As Orihime and Kukaku made there way away from the area.

Ichigo and Hiyori were engaged in combat of there own with Ikkaku Madarame, not far away.

All three of them had their swords drawn and were staring each other down. "You know, spikey head, If I was in you or your friend shoes , I would running." Said Ikkaku ,confidently. " You will never beat me."

Ichigo and Hiyori both grinned at him. They then, easily dodged Ikkaku when he brought his sword down on them a split second later. Ikkaku's eyes went wide, and he thought _They dodged it!, and effortlessly too!_

Before he could react, Ichigo and Hiyori both brought there Zanpaktous down at him, and even though he moved out of the way of Ichigo's he couldn't dodge Hiyori's blade and after he stumbled back he felt a large gash on the side of his face, that quickly covered that side of face in blood.

Ikkaku smiled and asked "So, what are the names of my strong opponents?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo huh?," Ikkaku said, smiling again. "They say people with "ichi" in there name are very lucky. What about your partner?,"

"I'm Hiyori Sarugaki" She said, gripping her sword tightly.

Ikkaku looked confused. " Wait, that's a girl's name! You're a girl?"

Hiyori growled like a lion and yelled, "Your damn right I'm a girl, you stupid bald moron! Do I have to show you my panties to prove it or something!"

"Uh, is your friend here, perverted or insane?" Ikkaku asked Ichigo.

"Perverted …and insecure, perhaps..." Ichigo said to him. _Maybe even a touch of split personality disorder too_, he thought afterwards.

Hiyori took a deep breath and screamed out "Hado 4, Byakurai!"

A beam of blue-white energy shot out of her finger and Ikkaku barely managed to move out of it's path. _Damn these two, one with overwhelming spiritual energy, the other able to use Kido spells without incantations, just are these two anyway! And that girl's name...it sounds familiar , famous even. Like I've heard it before somewhere…_

"Who trained you two warriors?" Ikkaku asked, catching his breath. "Your both too good, to be naturals."

Ichigo, nodded his head and Said "I've kind of had two teachers. One of them, is Hiyori here. The other,.. Kisuke Urahara."

Ikkaku's eyes went wide. _Former_ _Captain Urahara ! .. That's where heard her name before , She was his lieutenant! _

"And you Hiyori?" He asked, unsure he even wanted to actually know.

Hiyori paused and had a sad expression on her face, that quickly turned back to a grin. "That would be, Former Squad 12 Captain Kirio Hikifune!"

_Great, both of them have been trained by powerful Soul Reapers… I might not be able to defeat them. But If I don't try, then I'll be a disgrace to Squad 11 and to myself._

"Those two are your teachers. Then to not fight you at full strength, would be rude of me, wouldn't it?" Ikkaku replied, putting the end of his Zanpaktou flush with the opening of his sheath.

Ichigo didn't know what he was planning , but he had to stop him.

He slashed upward at Ikkaku at incredible speed, with his Zanpaktou, leaving a vertical slice on his chin, and interrupting what ever he was about to do.

Ikkaku stumbled back, caught off guard, and Hiyori used the opportunity to slide kick his feet from underneath him. He landed face first on the ground and quickly got up was about to bring her heel on to his neck, killing him ,when Ichigo grabbed her and pulled her back.

"What are you doing Ichigo!" She yelled, in surprise. "I was about to finish him off!"

"You were about to kill him, but we need him alive for information, snaggletooth" Ichigo said, letting go of her.

While Ichigo and Hiyori were arguing Ikkaku got onto his feet. He was a bit shaky but over all ok.

This time Ikkaku put his sword and sheath together and Ichigo and Hiyori couldn't stop it in time. "Extend! Hozukimaru!"

Ikkaku's Zanpaktou and sheath fused together to become one long spear like weapon. He quickly swung it at Ichigo and Hiyori who rolled to the side. Hiyori looked at Ichigo and said take down number 5!"

He nodded and as she yelled out "Hado 1, Sho!"

A blast of air hit Ikkaku in the shoulder and turned him to the side. As he turned around ,Ichigo brought his Zanpaktou up diagonally slicing through Ikkaku's Zanpaktou and deeply cutting him across his abs and chest.

"Unlucky…." he said and In a splatter of blood he fell back and didn't move again.

Ichigo looked down at him and said. "I'm sorry Ikkaku, but it looks like we were both unlucky today"

"Hiyori, can you heal him enough so he'll live?" Ichigo asked putting his Zanpaktou on his back.

"Uh, I suppose I can try, even though it's not my specialty." Hiyori replied walking over and looking at Ichigo. "But he's are enemy, so why should we help him?"

"I was defending myself, but I'm not a killer" Ichigo said looking up at the loads in the sky. "I worked to get my powers back not only to save Rukia, but to protect everyone I could. In the end, I'm a saver not a killer"

_Though I can almost guarantee there are few other's here that will share his beliefs,.. It's still a very sweet thing._ Hiyori though ,smiling at him.

"Well, are you to heal him or stand there blushing all day?" Ichigo asked , in a irritated manner.

Hiyori turned red and looked away from Ichigo as she knelt down and tried to closed Ikkaku's wounds up, using Kido.

After a few minutes she stood up and wiped some sweat off of her forehead. She bend over , out of breath.

"Hiyori are you alright?" Ichigo asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, but using multiple Kido spells and a basic healing Kido took a lot out me." She said standing upright. She grinned and said "Not all of us have your insane levels of spiritual energy"

"Yeah, I guess I forgot, here" He said crouching down. " I'll give you a piggy back ride till you rest up"

She was to beat to argue or even blush and quickly go on his back. They heard yelling from nearby and he took Hiyori and ran as fast as he could from the area.

"That bald guy, Ikkaku, will be fine till the other squads find him right?" Ichigo asked, looking back at her as they turned the corner.

"Yeah he's fine .."Hiyori said, looking over his shoulder. "Crap! We went the wrong way"

"Huh?" Ichigo said, only to have Hiyori turn his head face forward, and they both saw a group a Soul Reapers standing there, holding there Zanpaktous.

"Hey!, it's two of those Ryokas!" one of them yelled. "Get them ,for the glory of Squad 11!"

Ichigo turned and ran like hell with Hiyori holding on tightly. "Crap, why do we get bad luck like this!"

"Come back here and fight like men, you Ryoka!" A Soul Reaper with a mohawk yelled.

"How you calling a man, you son of a bitch!" Hiyori yelled behind her. " I'm a girl , why does everyone keep calling me a boy?"

"Just ignore them and shut up for a moment!" Ichigo yelled at her.

They ran trying to put distance between them and the enemy. Suddenly they ran into a tall silver haired girl, knocking her down. Ichigo stopped moving and had an idea. As the girl stood up he grabbed her from behind and held his Zanpaktou to her neck.

"Hey you guys!" Ichigo yelled, to the Soul Reapers that had been chasing them. "Try anything ,and will kill your team mate here!"

"Man!, you Ryokas are morons," a tall bald Soul Reaper said " Does she look like she's part of our squad? She's from squad 4, were part of Squad 11."

"Uh ,so? She's still A fellow Soul Reaper right, don't you guys look out for each other?" Ichigo asked, still holding on to the frightened girl.

"Yeah right, if you wanna kill her, go for it!" another one of them yelled.

"Well this plan turned wonderfully, Ichigo" Hiyori said releasing her hold on his back and dropping down next to him.

Suddenly a large explosion knocked out a wall and filled the area with smoke. Ichigo took the opportunity and knocked the girl in the back of the head, then he grabbed her unconscious body and threw her over his shoulder. Then him and Hiyori took off and ran away for the area.

Chad emerged from the open in the wall, with Yoruichi on his shoulder. "Are you sure Ichigo was near here, Yoruichi?"

"Yes, but I believe these low level Soul Reapers are a more immediate concern." Yoruichi replied. "Well deal with them, first, and continue to locate Rukia"

"Right, let's deal with them" Chad said, powering up his armored arm again.

**Meanwhile , at the Squad 4 medical barracks…**

Ikkaku had woken up to find himself alive and well. After a few minute The creepy, clown faced Captain of Squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi walked into his room with his silent purple haired, female lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, he felt a strong presence behind him and looked to see Captain Zaraki and Yachiru standing there.

"What do you think your doing here, Kurotsuchi?" Zaraki asked, in a gruff voice. "I know your not to interrogate someone from MY squad."

_Damn! I really wanted some info on these Ryoka!_ Kurotsuchi thought, angrily.

"No, of course not, ..come Nemu you stupid girl." He said walking away.

Nemu bowed to Captain Zaraki, and said " Thank you, have a horrible day please." then she walked out to find her captain ,only to walk into the wall face first, and fall down. She then stood up like nothing had happened, and walked out the door.

Zaraki just stared after her. "That girl is really,… weird.."

He turned back to his 3rd seat and walked over to him.

"Now then, Ikkaku." Zaraki said, stopping in front of his bed. "I see you lost a fight, didn't you"

"Hey baldy!" Said Yachiru, popping up over Zaraki's shoulder. "You look like crap. Are you alright? You didn't hurt you too badly did you?"

"Stop calling me bald , you little pink haired monster!" Ikkaku yelled back before looking at his captain. "Captain,… I indeed lost a fight, and I'm ashamed to say he healed me and let me live."

"So, was he strong?" Zaraki asked , grinning.

"They both were, sir" Ikkaku said looking at the ceiling. "They both defeated me very easily."

"Them? There were two who fought against you?" Zaraki asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes a Soul Reaper with orange hair, a massive sized Zanpaktou and incredible Spiritual Pressure." Ikkaku replied, looking back at Zaraki. " The other was a short girl with blond hair, done up in pigtails, and excellent skill in Kido attacks. She too wielded a Zanpaktou though."

Zaraki grinned like he was insane( which he probably is) and asked, "And what are there names?"

"Ichigo…. And Hiyori, were there names…."

**Meanwhile , quite some ways, away…**

Ichigo and Hoiyori were argueing about why Ichigo decided to bring the female Soul Reaper with them.

This is when the female Soul Reaper woke up. She looked over and the two form before arguing. _The orange haired Soul Reaper! He must be the one Rukia talked about!_

"That still doesent explain why you brought her with us" Hiyori yelled at him

Ichigo scowled at Hiyori and said "I told you those would have killed her, If I had left her there on her own"

The female Soul Reaper cleared her throat to get there attention. " Um, Excuse me ?" She said shyly. "But, you brought me with you because you were worried about my , safety?"

Both Ichigo and Hiyori looked over at her. Ichigo spoke first. "Uh, yeah I did, miss…?"

She got a good look at him and thought _Wow, for an intruder, he really.. Cute. …no bad , he's the enemy right? But he did save you, would a real enemy do that? And Rukia trusts him so.._

She looked and saw him waving his hand in front of her face. "Hey are you alright there, miss?"

She blushed and nodded. "My name..my name is Isane…. Isane Kotetsu"

"Isane huh? That's a nice name. I'm Ichigo" He said, holding out his hand to help her to her feet. "And my firecracker of a friend over there, is Hiyori"

"Who you calling fire cracker, dandilion head?" Hiyori said, with a smirk

"In any case we need to plan our next move Hiyori" Ichigo said, looking over at her. "Do you know where the Repentance Tower's at? We need to get to Rukia."

"I haven't been here in over a hundred years, how am I suppose to remember? "Hiyori asked, frowning. "I barely remembered to put on underwear this morning."

"Excuse me, but did you say Rukia? As in Rukia Kuchiki?" Isane asked, looking at them. "If your looking for her.. I … I know of a way to the repentance tower."

A few minutes later, Ichigo,Hiyori and Isane were making there way through some underground tunnels.

"This is a pretty sweet secret passage, Isane" Ichigo said, as they walked along. "I never would have though of using this to get around the Seireitei ."

"Technically, this is not a secret . Almost everyone in my squad, Squad 4, knows about it," Isane said, looking at him and trying not to blush. "But almost no one uses it, so it's quite safe"

"Hiyori ,did you know about this place?" Ichigo asked, looking at her.

"I wasn't in squad 4, I was in Squad 12," She replied sarcastically "Of course, I didn't know about it"

"Oh, yeah I forgot…." Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head , sheepishly. " So, Isane, does this place get used for bringing medical supplies to the Soul Reapers around here?"

"Actually, lower members of Squad 4 have to.. Well ..clean this place" Isane said, with her head down. "It often seems like my squad gets the jobs, nobody else wants to do"

Hiyori and Ichigo both thought, _Squad 4 sounds like it gets the short end of the stick_.

"By the way Isane." Ichigo said, he stopped walking. "Why are you helping us find Rukia?"

"Yeah, how do we know your not leading us to a trap?" Hiyori added, standing next to him

"Well you see.. The one charged with cleaning the prison cells, a Soul Reaper from my squad, name Hanataro, was sick and couldn't do his duties. I was sent in his place by my captain." Isane said looking at Ichigo , with red cheeks. " I started talking to her while I did my chores there. She told me a lot about you, Ichigo Kurosaki"

"And even before I met her, both myself and my captain though that Rukia being executed ,made absolutely no sense to us" Isane said, looking away. " Giving your powers to a human has always been considered a petty crime. There's no reason she should be executed."

"Wait, other Soul Reapers have given there powers to humans?" Ichigo asked, confused.

Isane nodded and said "Yes, there have been several times in the history of Soul Soceity, but on those oocasions, the offending person was merely suspended without pay for several weeks."

"As for Rukia , she told me much about you and Hiyori" Isane said, smiling. "She apparently has much faith in both of you and she believes that she can never make up for the trouble she caused you."

"During those times, she appeared sad," Isane said, pausing and looking back at Ichigo and Hiyori. "She is a most grateful for meeting both of you. No doubt she will be glad you ae safe."

Ichigo gritted his teeth and started walking again. " Come on, we need to get going." He said fiercely. " She's my friend! I refuse to let her die for no reason, !"

_**Back at the Squad 4 medical barracks…**_

The 3rd seat of Squad 4, the blond ,glasses wearing Yasochika Lemura was giving a report to the Lieutenants about the damage report so far.

"I'm afraid the reports aren't good at all"Yasochika said, looking down at a piece of paper in his hands. "Both Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa were remove from the fontlines. In addition nearly all of Squad 11 minus it's Captain and Lieutenant, were wiped out not long afterward by thye Ryoka invaders"

The other Lieutentants were all shocked by this news. "The entire squad! How that possible!" asked Izuru.

"These intruders have only been inside the Seireitei for a few hours," Said the tall , scarred Lieutenant of Squad 9, Shuhei Hisagi. " How could they have done so much damage, this quickly?"

Suddenly, a unranked Squad 4 member handed Yasochika a piece of paper. He adjusted his glasses and looked at. "oh no!"

Momo looked at him and asked "What the matter, Yasochika?"

"It appears that two of the Ryoka have kidnapped a member of Squad 4..specifically… Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu!"

"This is terrible! Lets go and …" Rangiku slurred out, before slamming her head on the table and passing out again.

Iba shovk his head in annoyance. "Would someone heal her so she's not passed out from getting so drunk? She's an embarrassment to the 13 court guard squads"

Momo turned to Renji to say something, but he was suddenly gone. "Renji?.."

While this was going on, Ichigo, Hiyori and Isane came out of the passages through a surface opening, They looked around and crawled out, looking around.

"This looks like it's still quite aways from the white tower, Isane" Ichigo said, streaching and helping Hiyori out of the opening.

"At least were out of that rank assed smell down there." Hiyori said, I though I was going to puke or something." Hiyori said, scowling.

"Yes well, unfortunately, this is closest we can get to the Repntance Tower using the underground passages." Isane said, calmly.

"It's still a long ways to go, but it's better then it was." Hiyori said, grinning. "Right Ichigo… uh Ichigo?"

Ichigo was looking forward at a large flight of stairs head of them.

"Who's that?" Ichigo asked ,pointing to a tall man standing on the steps. "He looks like a clown, with white and black makeup on his face,"

"White and black face makeup?.." Isane said, looking ahead. "Oh no! That's the ruthless captain of Squad 12. We have to get out of here, now!"

Why, hello there Ryoka, it's a pleasure to make your aquatance in person" The man said grinning with, a lippless mouth. "I am the Captain Squad 12-"

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi !" Hiyori said, cutting him off. She growled and unsheath her Zanpaktou form her back. "Long time no see, you stupid clown"

"Hiyori , is that you?" Mayuri ,said genuinely surprised. "I though you were dead, along with the others. It appears that information was false."

"Hwo is this guy?" Ichigo asked, looking down at Hiyori. "How do you know him?"

"This guy.. He was second in command of then, newly established Department of Research and Development."Hiyori said. "A place founded by Kisuke. Before that Mayuri here, was the most dangerous criminal in all of the Soul Soceity"

"Yes, well good to see you" Mayuri said, sneering. "It appears as your still as-"

Before he could finish talking , something fell down the flight of stairs behind him . Ichigo noticed it was a purple haired girl, when she came closer. She bounced down the stairs till she hit the bottom and landed on her head, with her body bend so that Ichigo got an eyeful of of her underwear.

Ichigo turned red, and looked away. "Geeze , what the hell! put on some pants!.. Who want's to die with out pants on?"

"My apologies for interrupting you, captain." The girl said, still very much alive.

"Nemu you moron ,I obviously need to fix you later" Mayuri ,said shaking his head. "And yes is alive, but that's because she not human, I made her in my lab."

"You made her?" Ichiog said, looking back over at him.

"Indeed " Mayuri said, looking at him seriously. "But that's not important. I'm here to collect information on you, Ryoka"

The only question is.." Mayuri said, smiling, " Will you make this easy on yourself, or can we do this the hard way, or in other words, the fun way?"….

END OF CHAPTER 17

Please read and enjoy, see you in a few with a new chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 18

Mayuri smiled and asked, " Will you make this easy on yourself, Hiyori or can we do this the hard way, or in other words, the fun way?"….

"How about the fun way?" A growling voice said, from seemingly out of nowhere.

Everyone looked up to see a man sitting on the wall above.

"Hey there, orange hair kid, are you, Ichigo?" He asked. "The one who defeated my 3rd seat, Ikkaku?"

"That's right, who are you?" Ichigo asked, drawing his Zanpaktou from his back.

"I am Kenpachi Zaraki. The Captain of squad 11." Kenpachi said grinning, evilly. " Lets say you and I go have some fun?"

"Go, Ichigo. Take care of him." Hiyori said, looking fiercely at Captain Kurotsuchi. "And if you don't come back alive.. I'll drag your ass back from where ever you end up when you die and kill you again myself."

"But Hiyori.." Ichigo said looking at her. "Can you handle him?"

She looked over at him and said " Yeah I got this… and remember only use "it" if you have no other option left."

Ichigo nodded and looked at Isane. "If she gets injured.. please help her." took one last look at her, Hiyori and he went after Kenpachi.

Isane new about the evilness of Zaraki, but also knew, from her talks with Rukia, it would be pointless to try and stop him.

"Well it looks like it's just you and me, Mayuri" Hiyori said grinning.

"Yes, indeed, I never did get to see you fight ,while you were at the Department of Research and Development, and Squad 12" Mayuri said, grinning as well. " Let's how good you are."

A short ways away, Ichigo had caught up with Kenpachi. Both readied their Zanpaktous and looked at each other.

"So what do you want.. Kenpachi was it?" Ichigo asked, standing in a defensive pose.

"That's right.. As for what I want.." Kenpachi said, gripping his sword. "I want to-"

"Fight! Kenny wants to fight!" A small pink hair girl yelled, appearing from behind Kenpachi.

"Yachiru!" Kenpachi said, putting his face in his hand. " You know I don't like to be interrupted."

The girl turned around and looked at him and said "Sorry, Kenny I was just excited to see you fight… Can I introduce myself to Mr. orange hair here, before I get out of the way?"

"Yeah sure, go for it kid" Kenpachi said, lowering his sword. "You know I spoil you sometimes , don't I?"

The pink girl walked to a confused Ichigo, and bowed to him, with a smile on her face. "Hello there, I'm Yachiru Kusajishi . The Lieutenant of Squad 11. Please to meet ya!"

"You're a Lieutenant?" Ichigo asked. "well.. Uh… I'm Ichigo… It's nice to meet you too, young lady"

He patted her head, which caused her to giggle. "Well have fun playing with Kenny, Mr. Ichigo"

With that she jumped out of the way, and Kenny brought his Zanpaktou down, fast. Ichigo barely dodged and slid to a stop.

"Not bad reflexes, kid" Kenpachi said. Only to get caught of guard by Ichigo pushing his arm holding the sword down and punching him in the side of his face.

This sent Kenpachi stumbling slightly. _What the hell! How the hell did this kid just hit me?_

"Damn, your good kid, I think I might have to give it my all." Kenpachi said, making his Spiritual Pressure flair up around him.

Thanks to Ichigo's training he was able to flair up Spiritual Pressure as well. It wasn't quite a s strong as Kenpachi but, it was still impressive.

"Well, pretty good. But you have much stronger Spiritual Pressure then this, I can tell." Kenpachi said, grinning wildly. " I guess I'll have to help you bring it out!"

He swung wildly at Ichigo with his sword, but blow after blow Ichigo managed to block. But Ichigo was still being pushed back by the force of the swings. "Yes, Yes! Were having fun now! Hahahaha !" Kenpachi yelled, laughing. "Finally an opponent worthy of my skills!"

"Thanks, but I don't have all day!" Ichigo yelled, pushing back and swinging his sword against him and cut into him.

Kenpachi stood up right ,and smiled. "Excellent it's just a shame you'll never …..cut me?" He felt a slight pain and looked down. He was bleeding from a long gash, made by Ichigo.

"How? No one has ever cut me before." Kenpachi said, suddenly grinning. " "I'm going to stop holding back I think"

Kenpachi pulled off his Eye-patch, and a his Spiritual pressure rose to an insane level. "What the hell, some kind of trick?" Ichigo asked, crouching from the force of the Spiritual energy.

"No trick, this eye-patch blocks some of my Spiritual Pressure." Kenpachi said. "T his makes the fights last longer for me. But I don't need to hold back against you!"

"Just do me a favor, kid,.. Make sure you keep your Spiritual Pressure sharp" Kenpachi said, holding his Zanpaktou high. " Other wise, the fun will end too soon!"

He charged at Ichigo, swing again and again, but this time Ichigo could block as well. Kenpachi swung upwards and when Ichigo dodged to the left, and tried to counter swing at him, He was gone for moment. Ichigo barely blocked Kenpachi from behind as he swung his sword down at him. He kicked Ichigo forward and when he was caught off guard when Kenpachi sliced into his shoulder, making him fall to his knees. Blood sprayed out of his wound and as groaned in pain.

"Damn.. you let your guard down!" Kenpachi cried, stabbing his sword downward and into Ichigo's Zanpaktou. "This started out so fun , But I guess it had to end , see ya, Ichigo Kurosaki"

With that, he shoved his ragged sword through Ichigo's sword, and into his stomach. He pushed it all the way through, till his hilt was almost touching Ichigo's stomach.

Kenpachi almost looked sad at this. "This is it ? You were the one and only person I've ever fought, who actually gave me a challenge" He said, pulling his sword out of Ichigo in a spray of blood. " I though you were special… I guess you just weren't special enough kid"

_Damn it… old man Zangetsu,, I need your strength, I have to win and save Rukia! _Ichigo thought as he fell over, his cracked Zanpaktou falling to the ground. _I can use my mask.. But not if I'm bleeding like this… I need to live!_

"You want to live Ichigo?" Asked a voice. "Then I will help you live"

He looked up and saw everything frozen in place. And walking towards him was old man Zangetsu.

"Ichigo, If you truly wish to live then trust in me, unlike Kenpachi, who does not trust his Zanpaktou." Zangetsu said , crouching down. " Do you hear it's cries, Ichigo, His sword is in pain and it has been neglected for so long, it probably does not even remember it's own name."

"Do you trust me Ichigo?" He asked, looking down at him. "If you do, then give me your hand , and will make you live, so you may fight again."

Ichigo didn't hesitate and reached his hand up. Zangetsu grasped his hand and said " I can heal you to some degree, but make sure you end this match quickly, for I only be able to keep you going for so long."

"I will old man! I promise!" Ichigo said, grinning confidently.

Zangetsu nodded and disappeared as the world unfroze. Kenpachi was walking away, when he felt Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure suddenly return and rise rapidly. He turned around and his eyes went wide as he saw Ichigo stand up and hold out his, now completely fixed, Zanpaktou. Ichigo reached up and slowly pulled his hand down. As he did a white mask begin to materialize over his face. Ichigo opened his eyes and the white parts were black ,while his irises were golden and glowing.

"What the hell… what are you?" Kenpachi asked , confused by Ichigo having a mask that looked like it belonged to a hollow.

Ichigo looked at him and in a strange, voice that sounded like it was two people talking at the same time, he said " Unfortunately… right now, I have to be you executioner"

Kenpachi was about to respond, when Ichigo disappeared from sight and appeared in front of him. He grabbed Kenpachi's sword and ripped it away. He then turned his Zanpaktou sideways, flat, and shoved it through Kenpachi's chest half way in. Kenpachi grinned and said" I'm dead now.. But I'll die happy . Thanks kid….." he fell backwards only to be caught by Yachiru.

"I'm sorry…" was all Ichigo said before closing his eyes, and took a hold of Zanpaktou.

He took off his mask and shattered it. Then he fell to one knee, breathing hard.

"Kenny…" Yachiru said quietly, looking down at her now dead captain. "I'm happy you died happy. And it was done by a strong opponent too."

"I'm sorry Yachiru.." Ichigo said, trying to catch his breath.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ichi." Yachiru said, turning around to face Ichigo with a sad expression. "You make Kenny really happy , especially when he died. That's what he always wanted, to find someone who was capable of defeating him."

Ichigo dropped to his other knee in pain. Zangetsu said to him in his mind _Ichigo, I can not keep your wounds closed for much longer, I suggest you find medical treatment, like from that silver-haired girl, Isane. _

Ichigo nodded and Yachiru walked over to him " Ichi? Are you ok?"

"Not really, Yachiru, Kenpachi wounded me pretty badly before I defeated him." Ichigo said, holding his stomach. " I need to find that Squad 4 girl who was with us, Isane."

Yachiru put his arm around her shoulders and said "Don't worry Ichi, I'll get you to her, is she still where pigtails was fighting clown man?"

"Yeah but, why are you helping me?" Ichigo asked , in deep pain " I killed your captain and friend"

"Yes you did , but I've know Kenny for a long time now and I've never seen him so happy before." Yachiru said, smiling at Ichigo. " Kenny was the one who saved me from being killed as a child, gave me a name and stuck by me all these years. But he died how he lived, fighting . And I have you to thank for that."

"This is just a small token of my appreciation, Ichi" She said hoisting him up. "If I let you die, then Kenny would be mad at me. So hold on Ichi, I wont let you down, sir!" She said, with a small salute.

They only jumped across a few rooftops before they ran into Isane. "Ichigo.!... And Lieutenant Kusajishi ?" Isane asked, looking confused. "Why are you with Ichigo?"

"Ichi here, killed Kenny!" Yachiru said smiling. " And mad him very happy. I'm returning the favor, by helping him find you, fishcakes !"

"Fishcakes? *couch* ….Why are you called…. *cough* that?" Ichigo asked, coughing.

Yachiru smiled and said "That's because she scared of f-"

"It.. It.. doesn't matter, I need to treat you, right now" Isane said, cutting her off with a blush. "Those injuries are quite serious."

"The only problem is he shouldn't be moved , at least for right now , Isane said, "But if we stay here, other Soul Reapers may find us, and I can't heal him and defend us at the same time."

"Don't worry, fishcakes!" Yachiru said, unsheathing her Zanpaktou. "I'll defend you and Ichi, while you heal him!"

"Um ok.. thank you. Though I'd wish you wouldn't call me fishcakes…" She said with a sweat drop. _I wonder how that blond girl, Hiyori is fairing… _she thought as she began the healing process.

**Meanwhile, Captain Kurotsuchi and Hiyori were beginning to face off…**

"Now then, Hiyori." Mayuri said, looking somewhat irritated. "How long will we stand here trading insults, … all I want to do is make you a test subject for a few dozen experiments"

"Test experiments..? I don't fucking think so ,you stupid dumbass" Hiyori said, growling at him. "I don't have time to deal with you!"

"If you won't be a test subject, then I have no use for you." Mayuri said, holding his arm out straight towards her.

His arm shot out at her, like a grappling hook . Hiyori growled and yelled out. " Butcher him! Kubikiri Orochi!"

A small explosion occurred and a small amount of smoke was thrown around. When the smoke cleared, most of the arm Mayuri had shot at her, was cut off. Hiyori was standing there holding her Zanpaktou in Shikai form, and it's blade had changed in appearance. It was now large, cleaver-like, and had saw-like teeth on it.

"Damn you, you little bitch!" Mayuri yelled out. He pulled his sword out of it's sheath, which was in the front of him, instead of on his side. "Nemu! Get over here and fix my arm you little twit!"

"Yes sir," Nemu replied, walking over to him and injecting a syringe of fluid into his shoulder. After a moment of waiting, nothing happened.

"Well, why didn't my arm regrow?" He yelled at her.

She looked at the syringe and said. "It appears I gave you a mumps inoculation, instead."

"You stupid moron, do I look like a need that!… could you be anymore worthless!" He growled at her.

"Thank you for your compliment sir" She said, bowing. "I will give you the correct one now"

Hiyori sweat-dropped at this._ This girl is a moron! He said he built her, but he didn't do a very good job.._

Nemu had given him the right injection and out of the nub, grew a new complete arm. Hiyori wasn't going to give him a chance and she raced forward quickly and tried to slash at Mayuri. He saw her and pulled Nemu in front of him. However, Hiyori didn't bother stopping and simply cut through Nemu's left arm all the way up to her shoulder. She fell to the side with a gush of blood spraying out of where her arm used to be.

Most people would have been freaked out but Hiyori was not most people, and she slashed at him again, only this time she was blocked by his Zanpaktou..

"Your are very annoying, and you serious injured Nemu on me" Mayuri said to her , holding her sword back with his own. " Now I'll need to take time out of my schedule later to fix her."

"Like I care " Hiyori replied, frowning.

"Now, claw out !, Ashisogi Jizo!" He yelled, his Zanpaktou transforming into golden colored and deformed, trident-like weapon. "Time to have some fun with you!"

Hiyori didn't know what his released Zanpaktou did , but she wasn't taking any changes. She jumped back several feet and readied her blade.

"It's good thing you moved, or you might be in serious trouble right now" Mayuri said smiling. " I would like to use it on you , but I might end up damaging you too much. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to use you a test subject for a while."

He slashed out at her ,cutting into her arm. "Damn ,that hurt!" She exclaimed, hold the bleeding wound.

"Oh, did that hurt?" Mayuri asked, grinning. " I was hoping you would be able to avoid my attacks"

"Is that so?,.. Well. Why is arm numb!" She asked, angrily.

He held out his sword and said "My Zanpaktou paralyzes whatever it cuts, however you can steal pain. Wonderful isn't it?"

" Screw you, I hope like my Zanpaktou just as much!"," Hiyori raised her sword above her, with her other arm and said "Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu !" she brought her sword down quickly and a wave of what appeared to be air shot towards Mayuri.

He assumed it was just air, and blocked it with the palm of his right hand. This was a fatal mistake and since it wasn't air, and it sliced him form the bottom of his hand to his shoulder. After a huge gush of blood splashed out it, his arm looked like he had fed it into a paper shredder, as it was cut into bloody ribbons. He fell to his knees in pain and screamed . "Ahhhhh! What was that, you stupid little bitch ! "

"That was my Zanpaktou's special ability," Hiyori said grinning. "In Shikai form, The blade vibrates so fast, that it appears to be not moving at all. I can then fire off waves of vibrating air at my opponents and that cuts through just about anything in their path!"

He cut off what was left of his arm and used a hot, burning rod to cauterize the wound .

"A truly ruthless technique.. Mayuri said, groaning pain. "Very well , I'm done playing around with you… I'm out of here."

"What that's it? I though you wanted a test subject so badly?" She said, lowering her Zanpaktou.

"I did and still do.. but your far more trouble then your worth." He said walking over to his bleeding lieutenant, who was still lying on the ground. "Nemu get your worthless ass up!… Well could it be she bled to death?'

He bent over and left for a pulse, before standing back up. "Well, she's till alive it appears afterall. At least I don't need to build a new one of her" He said pulling the burning rod from before and cauterizing her shoulder wound as well.

He turned towards Hiyori and said. "Even after a 100 years, your still a infuriating little girl. I don't care about your mission, or goal of coming back here, but I will say this. Your ruthlessness somewhat reminds me of my own."

He grinned evilly at her. "You know ,your very lucky , I need to restore my arm and deal with this bag of meat I call my Lieutenant." He grabbed ahold of Nemu's other intact arm and walked away, dragging her on the ground behind him.

"What about your Bankai, I assume since you're a captain, you have one" Hiyori said , sealing her Zanpaktou,

"Never assume anything, I know of a captain who never achieved Bankai.. Nor does he know the name of his own Zanpaktou." Mayuri stated, still walking away. "As for my own, I do indeed have it, but I have no intention of wasting it on the likes of you. Farewell , brat!" With that, he resealed and re-sheathed his Zanpaktou and disappeared from sight.

Hiyori got a tick mark on her forehead and yelled out ,"Who are you calling a brat, you ugly assed clown!….. I wonder if Ichigo is having more fun then I did… But I don't even no where he is. And the girl who was with us is also gone., she better not have sold us out!"

She felt out for his Spiritual Pressure and found it was weakened slightly. This had her worried.

_You better be alright you moron, I you die on me.. No I wont think like that.. I've got to get to him._

She ran off , following his Spiritual Pressure as she went along.

It wasn't long before she found him being healed by the silver haired girl, Isane. She looked down at him and saw large wounds on his stomach and his shoulder. "Ichigo!" She yelled, "What happened to him? Is he going to be alright?"

Isane looked up at the frightened girl and smiled "yes, though I will need to move him somewhere safer to finish working on him."

"Oh, I'm really glad…" Hiyori said calming down. "Hey who the kid?"

"I'm not a kid, I'm Yachiru Kusajishi," The pink haired girl said ,smiling " I'm The Lieutenant of Squad 11 !"

"A lieutenant huh.. I believe it…" She said looking back at Isane . "When can we move him?"

"Now, would be preferable. We'll move back to the underground tunnels." Isane said, pulling off a pair of gloves she was wearing. " Can someone please carry him to the tunnels, I need to use my Spiritual Pressure to heal him, I can't waste it."

"Me and pinky here ,got it" Hiyori said taking ahold of him carefully. "You up to that, Yachiru?"

She grinned and nodded, "Anything for Ichi!"

"Are you certain, your arm appears damaged" Isane said standing up, "Yachiru, can you carry him on your own again?"

She nodded with a smile and together Hiyori ,Yachiru and Isane jumped away to the tunnels, with Ichigo being carried along for the ride.

"So how long will it take you to heal him, Isane?" Hiyori asked sitting down, after they had arrived. She sat in a Indian pose and took of her jacket to look at the wound on her arm.

"It will take at least the night." She said, getting a new pair of gloves on. "But my tomorrow he should be just fine. After that, I will see about you arm as well."

The next morning, quite some distance away, a Captain's meeting was summoned. Most of the captains were there, even the sickly captain of Squad 13, Jushiro Ukitake.

"Hey, where's Zaraki?" Asked ,the lazy Captain Kyoraku . " Don't tell me he's still chasing Ryoka on his own"

"Actually Shusei, I have disturbing news about the Captain of Squad 11" Said Head-Captain Yamamoto, as he walked in through the front doors.

He made his way to his chair and down . He took a breath and looked up at the Captain assembled there, and noticed Captain of Squad 5, Sosuke Aizen, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi was also missing. "Has anyone seen Captain Aizen or Captain Kurotsuchi?" Yamamoto asked. Everyone shook there head so he continued. " No one? Very well, we'll have to informed them later then."

"So what's this about, old man Yama?" Captain Kyoraku asked, looking the Head-Captain.

"I have a number of pieces of information to pass along to you. One the Lieutenant of Squad 4 was seen being kidnapped by 2 of the Ryoka, …. and The Captain of Squad 11, Kenpachi Zaraki, the 11th person to hold the title of "Kenpachi",…. was found dead this morning," Yamamoto said bluntly. "His Lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi appears to missing as well."

Nearly all of the captains there, were quite shocked , except the captains of Squad 9 Kaname Tosen, who always though Zaraki was a demon, and Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, who almost never showed much emotions. Captain of Squad 4, Retsu Unohana, was deeply worried about her lieutenant, but tried to stay strong.

"Now then, these Ryoka have invaded our sanctuary, injured almost all of Squad 11, including their killing their captain, and possibly kidnapped two other Lieutenants." The head-Captain said, frowning. " We must declare war on these Ryoka! As such all seated officers will allowed to carry their Zanpaktous and use them as needed to defeat this enemy! We will show these intruders, that we are strong and capable!"

"Unless there are any questions, you are dismissed. Please tell your seated officers about the war time procedures." The Head-Captain stated, thumping his cane on the floor

As they turned to leave a messenger Soul Reaper appeared in front of the door blocking any one from leaving. "My apologies for interrupting, but I have an important message that all captain's need to hear."

The Head-Captain nodded to him. " Speak"

The messenger nodded back and said "Approximately 10 minutes ago, the Captain of Squad 5, Sosuke Aizen, ..was found dead, pinned to a wall by a Zanpaktou… He was found to have bled to death several hours before he was discovered"

No one spoke, or moved. After a few minutes Soifon, the Captain of Squad 2, spoke up "Are we to believe that these Ryoka killed not one, but 2 of our Captain after only a few days time!" she asked, angrily.

"What kind of being's are we dealing with ?" Captain Ukitake asked, to one in particular.

The Head-captain slammed his cane on the floor. Hard. "Enough ! Find these Ryoka and stop them at all costs!"

A few minutes after they left the Squad 1 Barracks, two men in the Seireitei met in secret.

"My apologies for being late, my lord. The meeting ran longer then we assumed." A male Soul Reaper with braided hair said, kneeling down.

"Nonsense, do not apologize. So much is happening so fast, this type of thing is to be expected." Replied a glasses wearing man. "Still, I did not expect these Ryoka to be as strong as they are, Urahara chose these invaders well"

The kneeling man stood up and asked "Will we have to accelerate our plans at all? And what of Ichimaru?"

"We will go and retrieve him, but the plan will remain as is, there is no need to deviate from it just yet." The glasses wearing man said. "We our getting closer to the end. Just a little while longer and it will all be over…."

**Meanwhile, …**

Kukaku and Orihime were avoiding Soul Reapers, and trying to find the others. Shuhei Hisagi was out patrolling when noticed 2 foreign Spiritual Pressures nearby. He followed them and found 2 woman. He didn't like fighting woman, it just wasn't respectable to hurt one, but these were invaders, so he had no choice.

She jumped down in front of them. He looked at them and said. "Sorry to scare you ladies, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to either take you in or ..kill you where you stand."

"Now what do we do Kukaku?" Orihime asked, scared.

"It doesn't look like we have any options but to fight," Kukaku said, drawing out her sword. "And this time I might need your help"…..

END OF CHAPTER 18

Well , here's another chapter, Please read, review and enjoy. See in a few days with another chapter, peace for now.


	19. Chapter 19

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 19

"Well,?" Kukaku , asked, getting impatient. "Are you going to attack or not?"

Shuhei Hisagi, gritted his teeth. _Damn I can't stall forever , but I don't want to actually fight them either…_

"Say, is there any chance you two might wanna surrender, without us having to fight?" Shuhei asked, sighing.

Kukaku looked at him for a moment and said "Are fucking serious?"

"Yes, actually I am" He replied, lowering his sword. "I can't stand violence or fighting"

"Then why did you tell us to give up or you'd kill us when we first met a few moments ago" Orihime asked.

Shuhei sighed again, and said " It was a bluff at most. My captain and me share a belief of following the path with the least amount of bloodshed. I only became a Soul Reaper in honor of another Soul Reaper named Kensei . He saved me when I a little boy and I owe it to him to help other souls like he helped me."

"Then what are we suppose to do here?" Kukaku asked, getting impatient. "Were not backing down, and you don't want to fight ,so…?"

"Why are you people here in the first place?" Shuhei asked, looking at Kukaku. "You must have a reason."

Orihime stepped forward. "We're here to save are friend Rukia from her execution!"

"Rukia?.. Rukia Kuchiki ?.." Shuhei asked, confused. " You're here to stop her execution?"

Orihime smiled, and asked " So you know Rukia? Where is she? Is she alright?"

He looked at her, and saw her big brown eyes and found himself blushing. He turned his head to the side to hide it and said " Uh.. I know of her,… I've seen her around. And I think she's in the Repentance Tower."

"Oh she is! Thank you , Mr. Soul reaper!" Orihime said, smiling at him.

_Damn she is too cute…_He thought to himself, trying not to blush again. "Um yeah.. And by the way, It's Shuhei, Shuhei Hisagi."

"So can you let us go Shuhei?" Orihime asked with pleading eyes.

"I…I.." Shuhei stuttered out. _I'm going to get in trouble for this but… _" …..Fine… go,"

"Really? Oh thank you, thank you! Shuhei!" Orihime said, laughing and hugging him.

Shuhei's face turned dark red and couldn't speak. Kukaku was trying not to laugh and was failing miserably.

"Well then ,come on Orihime, let's move. I know where this Repentance Tower is" Kukaku said, pulling her along.

"Oh, ok, goodbye Mr. Shuhei!" Orihime said, smiling at him again. "We truly appreciate your help!"

"I.. Wait.. I'll come with you. It.. it might me dangerous." Shuhei said, putting his Zanpaktou back into his sheath.

"You sure you won't get in trouble for this by your Captain?" Kukaku asked, as she stopped walking for a second.

"Perhaps not by his captain but I , Jirobo Ikkanzaka, might have some to say about it." Said, a large Soul Reaper standing at the top of a roof above them.

"Oh crap ..the wind-scythe!" Shuhei said, cursing under his breath. "I'm good, but this is bad."

"Yes that is I, Jirobo of the wind-scythe." Jirobo said , jumping down. "And I am here to kill the intruders. As well an apparent traitor in our mist as well"

"Shit, This looks bad." Kukaku said, pulling out her sword. " And I can already tell,… that this is going to be a pain in the ass!"

"So what do we do ,Kukaku?" Orihime asked, putting her hands on her hairpins. "Do.. Do we fight?"

"Well somehow, I don't think this fat-ass is just going to stand aside and lets us go so,…" Kukaku said, holding her sword in front of her "..So yeah, were going to fight!"

"I was going to give you time to think about your regrets, but now.. Now I will simply kill you rude little girls," Jirobo said , grabbing a hold of the hilt of his Zanpaktou. "And be done with it. Now fly away, Tsunzakigarasu !"

"Everyone duck, now!" Shuhei yelled, pulling Orihime out of the way with him. Kukaku also ducked to the out of the way, and just in time.

Jirobo quickly pulled the sword hilt out of the sheath and put it back in. When he did, countless small, curved blades shot out of his sheath and flew around him.

He looked at Orihime and the blades flew at her at high speeds, too fast for her to use her Santen Kesshun. She closed her eyes shut for the inevitable pain, but it never came. She heard a number of thumps and groans of pain and when she opened her eyes she saw Shuhei in front of her with his arms spread. She gasped when she realized he had taking the hits for her, and he now had numerous tiny blades imbedded in his back.

"Oh no, Shuhei!" Orihime cried out. "Kukaku we have to help him!"

"Already on it!" Kukaku said, teeth bared. " Hado 31, Shakkaho, Red Flame Cannon !"

A blast or red energy shot toward Jirobo and there was a small explosion. " Yes, take that you stuck up bastard!"

"Such a rude woman, I must correct this." A voice from behind her said.

Before she could turn around , Jirobo pulled out his Zanpaktou and re-sheathed it. Kukaku cried out in pain and fell forward to the ground to reveal a large bloody slash going across her back. Shuhei managed to get to his feet and went into his "battle" state of mind. He pulled out his sword and held it in two hands.

"Now reap! Kazeshini!" He yelled, and his Zanpaktou split into two weapons that each looked like a double bladed Kama ( a Japanese sickle) that were connected together by a long metal chain.

Jirobo laughed deeply and threw more mini blades at him, only this time Shuhei blocked them by swinging his weapons around in circle patterns. This destroyed all of the blades in a instant, making Jirobo grew somewhat mad.

Shuhei turned to Orihime and said "Quick, get your friend out of here, girl. I'll hold him off for as long as I can."

Orihime stood up and said " No! I ..can't run away from everything! I have to.. I have to be useful as well! Tsubaki ! Koten Zanshun ,I reject!"

Tsubaki flew at high speeds, but Jirobo had more experience and greater strength then Orihime and , easily swatted Tsubaki out of the air, causing him to return to her.

"So pathetic, a attack with out strength of mind such at that one…" Jirobo said, pulling out yet more blades. "…Will always fail to defeat an opponent."

He flash-stepped in front of Orihime and grabbed her by the neck. She struggled to get out of his hold, but he was too strong for her.

"Let her go you son of a bitch!" Yelled out Shusei , running up to them. He swung one of his blades in a circle and brought it down fast, cutting into Jirobo's arm.

He dropped Orihime and yelled in pain. He socked Shuhei in his face and sent him stumbling slightly.

"What the hell is with this guy, he just doesn't quit." Shuhei said, wiping blood from his mouth. _This is bad, my back is killing me, with those blades stuck in it.. This can't go on much longer!_

Orihime scrambled to her feet, grabbed Tsubaki and ran over to Kukaku, who was injured but conscious. Kukaku had Orihime help her to her feet. "Shuhei get over here, I've go t a plan I think might work" She said in a slight whisper to him.

He nodded and ran over to her. "What's the plan?" He asked, keeping a tight grasp on his blades.

The three huddled together for a few moments and then went into action. Shuhei raced forward swinging his Kamas at Jirobo, who did his best to avoid them. Meanwhile, Kukaku was holding both arm forward, and began to recite an incantation.

"The sun rises into the sky, the fires from below began to ignite, the pillars of heaven enclose the earth and the wolf pounces on his prey. The ring of fire circles the pillars and engulfs all within it's field of vision."

"Shuhei now!" Orihime yells, as she prepares her shield.

He ducks under Jirobo's legs and dives over to Orihime and Kukaku.

Kukaku grins and finishes the Spell. "Hado number 93, Teikiatsu Kaji Hiradoma!"

4 pillars erupt around Jirobo, and a red circle appears under him. Before he can blink and huge cyclone of intensely hot fire encloses the space he's occupying. It let of a blast of equally hot air and smoke around it that scorched the surrounding buildings. Orihime, Kukaku and Shuhei were only fine because of Orihime's shield.

They all silently celebrated and smiled at there victory. The fire faded and there was a open pit where Jirobo had fallen into the ground. Suddenly he emerged and raced at them , hollowing pain with blacken skin that barely there and boils. Before he could touch them, a sword penetrated hid midsection from behind and he fell forward. When he fell he revealed the Captain of Squad 9, Kaname Tosen, putting sword into his sheath.

"My apologies for interfering in your battle, my Lieutenant," Tosen said, stepping forward. "But he was walking a path of grave injustice, that I could not let continue."

"My captain" He said, fallen to one knee from the pain of his injuries. "I'm sorry I couldn't deal with this on my own."

There is no need to be sorry, you are injured and you fought well to preserve the justice." Tosen stated, calmly. "That is all that matters."

"Thank you sir, but,-"_ Crap, now I will have to turn these two in… _He though looking back at them, with a worried expression on his face.

Tosen walked closer and said "Do not worry Lieutenant, these two have suffered enough injustice for one day, they are free to go."

"But won't you get in trouble, Mr. captain sir?" Orihime asked getting up.

He looked in her direction and said " Perhaps,… but that is a price I am willing to pay, to ensure the innocent are spared and the true path of justice is followed… Do you require medical attention for your injuries, you both have acquired?"

"That's ok , I can heal her, good as new" Orihime said, helping Kukaku stand up. "Thank you again Mr. captain.. Goodbye Shuhei, thank you for your help" she said, with a blushing smile.

He smiled back as they went off and groaned in pain from his back wounds. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw it was his captain. "Come Shuhei, we must be getting to Squad 4, relief barracks to deal with your injuries."

**Speaking of injuries…**

Ichigo was still sleeping after Lieutenant Kotetsu had finished healing his wounds from his battle with Kenpachi. After Isane had also fixed up Hiyori's arm, she took a much need nap along with Yachiru, who was still like a little girl in many ways, and needed naps. Several hours passed and Hiyori ,who had woken up to guard them, scooted over by Ichigo

She sat down by him and stared down at him. She looked at him and thought, _Even in the middle of this mission.. I can't get my feelings for him to go away…. I wonder,.. If a kiss on his cheek, while he was asleep would.. Hold them off? But would it be alright?…. _She contemplated this in her head over and over before deciding she was going to do it, in case she never got another opportunity.She gulped and leaned over him ,and felt her cheeks and ears heat up. "Ichigo , I know you can't here me, but I ..I really like you, a lot.. And I really want to kiss you, so I'm going to, ok, you idiot?" Her heart was banging a million miles a minute as she got her lips closer and closer to his face. Just as Hiyori was about to quickly press her lips to the side of his face, he turned his face in his sleep and her lips ended up pressed against his lips instead of his cheek.

She froze, with her lips still against his. She quickly pulled away, with her whole face the color of a tomato and did the unthinkable. (for her anyway) she smiled and fainted backwards, falling onto the folded up top to his Soul Reaper robes with a small thud sound.

Yachiru woke up and looked over to see Hiyori laying down with a goofy grin on her face and a little blood coming out of her nose. "I wonder why pigtails looks like that ,when she's sleeping?" She said out loud, before yawing and standing up to stretch.

"Yachiru? Your.. your up too?" asked Ichigo who in fact had been awake for several minutes now, but was too shocked by Hiyori's actions to do anything. " How.. how long have .. have you been awake? Did you just see anything just now?"

"I didn't see anything Ichi, but I heard a thud sound." Yachiru replied, looking at him. "Does pigtails here, always look like that when she sleeps?"

Ichigo glanced over and saw her slightly bleeding nose and grin on her face, and felt his cheeks warm up. " Uh, no, not that I know of .."

He could still feel her lips on his and would be lying if he said ,he didn't like it._ I wonder how long she's felt this way? .. And how do I feel about her?… _he thought to himself as he sat up.

"Oh, Ichigo, your awake. How are you feeling?" Isane asked sitting up. "I was able to heal all of your injuries and you should be fine now."

"Yeah I feel really good now, thanks Isane." Ichigo standing up. "Shouldn't we get back to going to the Repentance Tower now?"

"That might be a good idea, Ichigo" said a deep male voice from behind them.

They all looked and saw A black cat sitting there " Yoruichi!" Ichigo said, looking at the cat. " How'd you find us?"

"With your Spiritual pressure, it wasn't very difficult" Yoruichi said. " I see you made several new friends as well as being ok, for the most part."

"Uh, yeah, this The Lieutenant of Squad 4, Isane" Hiyori said, finally awake. She looked at Ichigo and they both blushed. "And that little monster is Yachiru, the Lieutenant of Squad 11"

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment. " A pleasure to meet you. If you want to go then you should be on your way, there are no patrols in the area, so it's quite safe for the moment"

"I'm not a monster, I'm a perfect little angel!" Yachiru said smiling, though everyone could swear they saw devil horns on her head.

"Right," Ichigo said, and got ready with everyone else to leave.

"Ichigo, I want to stay back here for a while with me" Yoruichi said, calmly. " I need to talk to you about something...rather important"

"Uh ..ok , You girls go on without me, I'll catch up with you soon" Ichigo said , leaning his sword against the wall. "And that means you too, Hiyori, go on with them , I'll be fine"

The others began to walk towards the exit, while Hiyori hesitated for a moment. She ran up, with her cheeks red, and hugged him briefly ,before running off to catch up with the others.

He was red in the face before he turned around to Yoruichi. "So.. uh , what did you want?" he asked sitting down. "And Chad , have you seen Chad anywhere?"

"Yes, in fact up until a little while he was with me." Yoruichi said, sitting. "We separated , but I assure you, he is just fine"

"That's good, so uh..?"

"Oh ,yes. The reason I'm here." Yoruichi said, standing on all for paws. " Earlier, when I felt your Spiritual Pressure, it felt like it was…different.. Heavier some how. Did see or feel anything strange, at that time?"

_Well, I knew would come out eventually… _"You probably felt my Vizard mask." Ichigo said, nonchalantly.

"Oh is that all, well that's….WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Yoruichi Exclaimed, his eyes bugging out of his head. "You have a Vizard mask! Since when!"

"Well It's like this…." He started. To say, tell Yoruichi about him doing getting his Soul Reaper powers back and training his Vizard training with Hiyori and the other Vizards. "… And then I took a couple of days to relax before we all met up at Mr. Hat and Clog's store with you."

"I see…Still I wish that Kisuke had before hand." Yoruichi said, looking annoyed. "I hope your not hiding thing else from me Ichigo.."

"No, not that I know of." Ichigo said thinking. "What about you? You have a lot of knowledge of the Soul Society, were you here with Urahara before he left some time ago?"

"Actually yes, I was… tell you what, since you told me your secret,…" Yoruichi said, grinning. "I'll, SHOW you one of mine.. How about I show you ,my ream form?"

Yoruichi grew and changed shaped in a billow of smoke until a tall figure stood in front of him. When the smoke cleared Ichigo was found himself looking at a naked girl with tanned skin and purple hair.

"So, what do you think, Ichigo? Pretty hot, huh?" Asked the now female voice of Yoruichi. "The look on your face is priceless, I bet this is the first time seeing a girl naked, isn't it?"

"What.. What the hell? You're a woman?" Ichigo exclaimed, face beat red.

"Why yes I am. It's the cat, voice right? Makes everyone think I'm a guy." Yoruichi said, casually sitting down in front of him and sitting Indian style. " So then, look at this little contraption of mine, it's let the user fly using Spiritual Pressure. Pretty awesome huh?'

Ichigo's face was somehow even redder. "Put on some friken clothes!

She grinned wickedly at him and crawled over to him. She pushed him down and hovered above him. "Why, don't you want to get a good look first? I'm probably the first naked female you've ever seen, you should enjoy the view."

"N.. n…n…no get off!, and put on some clothes already!" Ichigo yelled, steam shooting from his ears.

"Oh, ok… Your such a prude Ichigo." She said ,standing up and walking over to the wall. " You better

hope I still have clothes stores here, or things are going stay interceding ,especially if I need to fight."

"Don't joke around like that ,you pervert!" Ichigo yelled, facing away from her, trying to calm down. "Just get on some clothes."

After a few minutes, Yoruichi spoke up. "Ok, I'm fully clothed now, you can turn around, my little prude. And here, catch!"

Ichigo turned back around, and barley caught a small strange device that looked like an animal's skeletal hand. "Uh, what is this thing?"

"It's name is…Uh… I guess I'm not really sure. It's a really old family heirloom, so I don't think I ever knew it's what it's called." Yoruichi said, sitting back down in front of him. " However, I do no what it does. It allows it's user to use their own Spiritual Pressure to fly."

"Fly ,huh? .. Wait, a family heirloom? Then why a are you giving it too me?" Ichigo asked looking at her. "And who was your family, did they live here, are you …,from here too?"

"So many questions, which one should I answer?.. Yes I am originally from here, just like Kisuke was." Yoruichi said, smiling at him. "In fact me and Kisuke were best friends and still are. And just like Kisuke.. I too was a Soul Reaper"

"You were?.. Doesn't surprise me too much, but why did you, Kisuke, and Hiyori leave here in the first place?" Ichigo asked, looking at the device she had giving to him. " I've never gotten a straight answer about it."

"While I can't speak on the others behalf I will tell this." She replied, standing up. "I left to help Kisuke in the world of the living."

"Well I guess that's- crap!" Ichigo said, jumping to his feet. "Hiyori's in trouble!"

"What , how do you know?" Yoruichi asked, giving him a strange look.

"I've been able to feel her Spiritual Pressure no matter where she is, or far a way from me she is, for some time now." Ichigo said, putting his sword on his back. "I just felt her Spiritual Pressure waver, I'm going to go help her, Isane and Yachiru."

"Ichigo maybe we should-"

"No I'm going, I won't let anything happen to her, she too important to me" He said quickly, holding out the device and pouring his Spiritual energy into it. The finger bones extended and he instantly flew off towards the Repentance Tower.

"Damn, I better follow using flash step!" Yoruichi said, and quickly ran off.

**Meanwhile at the Repentance Tower…**

Isane ,Hiyori, and Yachiru had broken Rukia out of the tower using a key they stole from the guards, they knocked out.

"I still don't understand why your freeing me, I barley know any of you ,except Hiyori." Rukia said, as they walked out of the tower's entrance.

"Well, what t do we have here?" Said a voice from ahead of them on the bridge they were on. "..2 Soul Reapers , a prisoner, and a little girl with a Zanpaktou and high Spiritual energy.."

Rukia looked up and saw who it was. "Oh no, brother!"

"That's captain Byakuya Kuchiki!" Isane said, somewhat frightened. "This is bad."

"Perhaps I should kill all of you, including Rukia and save us the trouble later." Byakuya said, calmly. " Yes, 2 traitors, a invader and the prisoner. Good bye, everyone."

He raised his sword, but a hand from behind caught it.

"Let's say we don't ,Captain Kuchiki." Said the frail Captain of Squad 13, Jushiro Ukitake. " I know for a fact you don't have the authority to do that, And I'm certainly not stand here and let you"

"Hello Rukia, ..Hiyori!" Ukitake exclaimed, "your alive and you're here?"

"Hi, Captain Ukitake, long time no see." Hiyori said, waving at him.

"I see, you know each other.. But tell me, what If you couldn't stop me from killing them?" Byakuya asked, lowering his sword.

"Then I'll stop you !" Yelled a voice.

They all felt intense Spiritual Pressure, that seemed to come from everywhere at once. It made, Rukia, Isane collapse to the ground and even the two captains that were present, and Hiyori were straining to stand properly. Up from below the bridge, flew Ichigo, who landed on the bridge in front of them.

He deactivated the device and walked over to his companions. He walked to Hiyori first and pulled her into a hug, which she returned. "Are you alright Hiyori?" He asked letting go.

"Yeah I'm alright, though you really need to calm down on your Spiritual Pressure, it was quite intense" She said, smirking.

"I'm glad to hear it." He said, checking on Isane and Yachiru next. "Are you two alright?"

They both nodded gratefully to him and he looked at Rukia. "Rukia, are you ok, I haven't seen you in quite some time."

"Ichigo… " Rukia said, starring. "You really are alive"

As far as I know…in any case I'm here to rescue you , midget" He said, looking over at the two captains. "Huh, why are looking at me like that.?"

"I wanted you to be ok, that's why I said not to come after me!" Rukia said, with tears in her eyes.

"That's fine, be mad at me, just do it later, for now I have to kick Byakuya's ass" Ichigo said pulling his sword of his back. "Come on, captain, let's see what you got!"

"Kaien?…" Captain Ukitake exclaimed. " How is this possible…?"

"This boy, is not him" Byakuya said. " Only a look alike, nothing more."

"Actually, according to my bug sister, Kukaku , I'm the reincarnation of Kiaen Shiba, not a look alike" Ichigo, said pointing his Zanpaktou towards Byakuya.

"It seems like you are indeed far stronger then before. But that makes little difference," Byakuya said, raising his sword. " I will show you just how wide the gap in our power is, boy"

He used his Infamous flash step slash on Ichigo, however, Ichigo easy blocked it without even looking. "You really need to stop moving so slowly, Byakuya." Ichigo said, smirking. "Kenpachi was much better then you, and I easily killed him. What makes you think you'll stand a chance."

"You.. You were the one responsible for killing Kenpachi?" Ukitake asked, wide-eyed. "That's quite insane ."

"it matters not, it's time for you to die, boy" He raised his sword and pointed it upward. "Now Scatter-"

"I don't think so, little Byakuya-kun!" Said a female voice, as Yoruichi landed in front of him and had simultaneously wrapped his sword up in a strange bandage-like material. " Using that isn't very nice."

"You! Yoruichi Shihoin" Byakuya exclaimed. " The former Captain of Squad 2, the leader the stealth force , and the princess of the Shihoin clan."

"You're a princess?" Ichigo exclaimed, eyes wide. "Woah…. Uh anyways, could you move so I can't defeat him already?"

"Defeat him?.. I have no doubt you could easily defeat him in combat, Ichigo" Yoruichi said, looking at him. "However, Byakuya is far more precise with his attacks and much more disciplined then Kenpachi was. Even you might have trouble defeating him without getting seriously injured…. At least without some special training I have set up for you."

"Training? I don't need anymore training , All I need is-" Ichigo didn't get to finish speaking however. Since Yoruichi appeared right upclose to him and vanished with him in a instant. Leaving only a note that landed into Byakuya's hand.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at it before reading it out loud. "In 3 days I will make Ichigo even stronger then you, and then he will defeat you with no problems at all. If your so confident. Then wait until then, unless your scared, little Byakuya-kun"

He scowled at the last comment and re-sheathed his sword, before walking away. Yachiru, and Hiyori who were right by each other, were both tired but managed to dash away from the area. Isane however, didn't move from her spot and simply stood there next to Rukia,, who had fallen unconscious, from the relief that her brother had left the area.

Captain Ukitake sighed, he didn't really want to put Rukia back into the cell, but knew if he didn't others may come and may think she had broken out, and punish her or something. " This is not right, but I have no choice I'm afraid."

He called for his two 3rd seats, Kiyone , and Sentaro , who both appeared and he ordered them to take Rukia back inside the Tower. They both grumbled about having to put her back into such a place, but complied none the less. Kiyone was surprised to see her sister Isane and to hear that she had helped the invaders, but understood that she was trying to help Rukia in her own way.

Miles away from the Repentance tower Yoruichi was making her way across the roof tops, with Ichigo, who was sleeping thanks to a Kido she had used in him. But while this was happening The Captain of Squad 10, the young, but powerful ,Toshiro Hitsugaya was on the trail of the captain of Squad 3, Gin Ichimaru.

"So any chance you wanna tell me how you escaped from your prison cell, Ichimaru?" Toshiro asked, having finally confronted him. "I know your up to something, the question is what?"

"Me ?, up to something? What ever do you mean?" Ichimaru asked, smiling like a snake.

"Do not play stupid with me" Toshiro said, angrily

"I'm not playing Stupid.. I'm playing hostage taker." HE said, grinning, as he pulled a unconscious, and tied up Lieutenant Momo Hinamori , from out of his room and threw her to the ground beside him. "See?"

"Momo!" Toshiro cried out, pulling out his Zanpaktou, "Release her. now!"

"If you want her back.. Then come and take her" Ichimaru replied, pulling out his own Zanpaktou. "That is , if you can…"

_Momo.. Just hold on!, I will save you! _Toshiro though, as he readied himself. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, then prepare yourself, Ichimaru, I will bring you down!"

Ichimaru grinned again and said "I'm looking forward to seeing you try, Captain Hitsugaya …"

END OF CHAPTER 19

Well another chapter down, I hope you folks like it. So please read, review, and enjoy. See ya in a few!


	20. Chapter 20

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 20

"…I'm looking forward to it ,Captain Hitsugaya.." Replied Captain Ichimaru.

"We'll see about that, Ichimaru." Toshiro said, readying himself for the inevitable battle.

"Hehehe… shoot to kill, Shinzo." said Ichimaru quietly, holding his sword to the side and pointed forward.

It shot forward at high speeds ready to pierce Toshiro, but he was also fast, and flash stepped into the air and out of the way. He drew his sword up and back and as he swung it downward, he yelled out " Reign over the frosted heavens! Hyorinmaru!"

His Zanpaktou remained the same shape, but long chain grew from the bottom of the hilt and had a small crescent moon shaped blade on the end of it. A stream of water and ice then flowed around him and it flew from the end of the blade, in a form that looked like a dragon. It shot out from his sword and roared as it flew towards Ichimaru.

He frowned and ducked out of the way. "Ooh, someone's testy, aren't they." Ichimaru said, grinning.

"Be quite, Ichimaru!" Toshiro yelled, sending another ice and water dragon at him.

This one actually nicked Ichimaru's shoulder, leaving ice on it. He turned to the side, holding his frozen shoulder.

" Your mine!" Toshiro said, rushing at Ichimaru with his sword.

"Actually, I got you.." Ichimaru said, quietly while smirking. "Shoot to kill… Shinzo…"

Ichimaru's sword sliced into Toshiro's side, as he tried to dodge it. "Oh, no, now it's going to stab poor Momo, over there on the ground." Ichimaru said, smiling.

Toshiro looked over, in fear. "Momo!" _There's no way I can stop it…_

But someone grabbed Momo and moved her to the side, and out of the way of Ichimaru's blade. It was the Lieutenant of Squad 3 Izuru Kira "Captain Ichimaru, what do you think your doing , you could have killed Momo!"

"Ahh!, Kira my Lieutenant, your just in time, ..I found Captain Hitsugaya doing something awful to Hinamori here," Ichimaru said, calmly. "You can help me bring him down… I mean bring him in.."

"Sorry my Captain," Izuru, holding on to Momo, "I don't believe you,

"Kira! Quick, get Momo away from here, and to somewhere safe!" Toshiro yelled to him, taking a swing at Ichimaru.

"I'm already on it, Captain Hitsugaya! "Izuru yelled back to him. " Be careful, and good luck!"

With that he flash stepped away from the area and towards the Squad 4 barracks. Toshiro turned and looked at Ichimaru and said " You should know, ..that now that Momo is safely away from here,.. I don't have to worry about holding back anymore."

"Oh really?" Ichimaru asked, his snake-like grin, somehow growing wider. " By all means, don't hold back"

Toshiro's eyes glowed icy blue and he raised his sword and pointed it to the sky. " Tenso Jurin"

The sky in the area, grew dark and thunder and lighting began to be seen and heard. Snow also began to fall from the sky and ice started to appear on some of surrounding buildings. His eyes glowed brighter, and hail began to hit Ichimaru ,who growled in annoyance.

"Getting frustrated, Captain Ichimaru?" Toshiro asked looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Good, cause if I've made you mad so far, then these moves will make you extremely pissed."

"So confident, aren't we?" Ichimaru asked, appearing before him and slashing wildly, while never loosing his smile.

He blocked all of his attacks and had the chain on his hilt wrap around one of Ichimaru's arms. "There's nothing wrong with confidence. In fact I'm going let you in on something."

"I have such precise control over Hyorinmaru, that I can use a weakened form of any of it's Bankai's attack while in Shikai form." Toshiro said, smiling slightly, before growing serious again.

Toshiro kept a hold of him with the chain that was still wrapped around Ichimaru's arm and stabbed him in his leg. As Ichimaru grunted slightly form the pain, Toshiro said "Here's one called, Ryusenka"

Ichimaru looked down at his leg and ice grew around it until his entire leg was covered in ice. And the weight of it caused him to crash down to the ground. For once, Ichimaru didn't have a grin, but a sneer on his face. He looked down at his ice covered leg and growled slightly.

"You truly are heartless, Captain Hitsugaya." Ichimaru said, looking up at him.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and said " Perhaps,… but when you hurt and threaten my friends, I have no choice… It's time to end this, Ichimaru"

Ichimaru raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Toshiro looked at him, and closed his eyes "Sennen Hyoro"

Several, giant pillars of ice irrupted from the ground around Ichimaru, who couldn't move out of the way, because of his ice encased leg . These pillars rotated around him and drew closer and closer to him before slamming into him, and encasing him a block of ice. Ichimaru was dead, but Toshiro knew something was wrong, there was no way he had killed another captain so easily, something was wrong.

He returned his Zanpaktou to its sealed form and placed it back in the sheath on his back, before dashing down to the ground and walking up to the pillar of ice in front of him. He looked closely and his eyes got huge. Inside the ice dead, was not the Captain of Squad 3, but a low ranked Soul Reaper who had joined his squad only a few weeks before hand. "What in the name of.. How.. how is this possible?"

_His face, his voice, his Spiritual pressure, his attacks… everything said Ichimaru… _He thought, unable to remove his eyes from the sight before him even as the ice on the ground and buildings around him began to melt. "Captain!, Captain are you alright!"

He turned and saw Rangiku running towards him. "Captain, I felt the Spiritual Pressure you, Captain Ichimaru, and Lieutenant Hinamori!"

"I saw Izuru, carrying Hinamori on my way over and he told me you were fighting Captain Ichimaru." Rangiku said, coming to a stop. " So how…did ..it ..go!"

Her eyes were wide and she saw the Soul Reaper incased in ice in front of them. "Captain ..what. What happened here?"

He turned back to look at it. And said "To be honest.. I'm not sure.. I saw Ichimaru out of his prison cell, and I follow him to this building. He opened the door and had Momo in there, tied up and knocked out."

"I was fighting him and even though something felt off , like he wasn't even trying, I kept the battle going until I used Sennen Hyoro to finish him off." He said finally looking away from the frozen squad member. " I didn't know it was another person until afterwards, but it doesn't make any sense at all…"

"Hmm.. Maybe we should just go check on Hinamori for right now, try to figure out what's going on later." Rangiku said, looking at her captain. "Afterwards, we can report this strange situation to the head-captain or something."

"I suppose your right, Rangiku… Let's go to the Squad 4 Barracks and see if she's alright." Toshiro said, walking away.

Several miles away from them, Izuru came to a stop on a rooftop and looked around for a moment before smiling evilly and dropping the still unconscious Momo on the ground with a thud. He then reached up and pulled away a shimmering veil from beside him and reviled the real Captain Ichimaru.

"Hehehe … Too easy, that for sure." He said, grinning. " Our master's powers are something else, though is a shame I couldn't fight Captain Hitsugaya personally."

" I see you you've accomplished your mission, Ichimaru." Said a voice, belonging to a man with purple braided hair and sunglasses.

Ichimaru turned and looked at him. " Ah, my fellow partner in crime, as it were. What brings you here?"

The man looked in his direction for a moment before saying "I was nearby and sent to check on your progress. Our lord felt you remove the illusionary veil and figured you were done."

"You know.." Ichimaru said, pushing the knocked out Hinamori with his foot. " I don't really understand reason behind needing this girl for, other then making them think I'm behind this."

"Neither do I , but it is not our place to question our lords orders." The braided haired man said calmly.

" .. Now come, our lord wishes to speak to us about the final stages of our plans."

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going." Ichimaru said, grabbing a hold of Hinamori and dragging her behind him.

**Meanwhile…**

"So your finally awake, Ichigo" Said Yoruichi, standing and grinning with her arms folded. "Come, on get up, you have work too."

Ichigo managed to open his eyes and sat up. He looked and saw Hiyori using his lap as a pillow. He smiled and ran his hand over her hair. " Hard to believe she can be so cute and innocent when she's asleep. And such a pain in the ass the rest of the time."

"Ohh, so cute. You two make a perfect couple." Yoruichi said, laughing. " Now come on, flirt with your girlfriend later, Ichigo"

Yachiru laughed and ate some of her candy she had gotten from, who knows where.

"Shut up" Ichigo said, gently pulling Hiyori's head off of his lap and shaking her awake. "Come on, snaggletooth, wake your little ass up."

"Ehh…. Yeah , I'm up shut up ,moron." Hiyori said, yawning and standing up.

"Where are we anyway?" Ichigo asked, looking around. " it looks like Mr. Hat and Clog's place."

"Very good, that area is modeled after this one" Yoruichi replied to him, grinning.

"Now then Ichigo, I know your probably mad about leaving Rukia behind, but You couldn't have survived against two captains at once. Yoruichi said, uncrossing her arms. "Besides, Ukitake is Rukia's captain and a very kind person. He won't let anything happen to her for the time being."

"Now then, Ichigo have you noticed how your Zanpaktou Zangetsu, is different from all other Soul Reaper's Swords?" Yoruichi asked, in a serious tone.

"Yeah, it's in a constant release state." Ichigo said, pulling out Zangetsu. "What about it?"

"You already know, good" She replied grinning. "But do you know that your Zanpaktou has a second release state, called Bankai."

" Yeah, I know the name, but not what it is." Ichigo said, looking at her as he rested his sword on his shoulder.

Well I'm glad you don't know everything," She said, in response, "Otherwise I'd have nothing to say, you spoil sport you."

Yoruichi walked over across the ground away from Ichigo. "In any case, all Zanpaktou's have three levels of power. The first is the sealed state, which you don't have, is where it's no more powerful then an ordinary sword."

He waited for her to continue, while Hiyori poked Ichigo with a stick, much to his annoyance.

"The second stage, is called Shikai, and it's the most used form of a Soul Reaper's Zanpaktou. And finally, is the 3rd and last stage of release, called Bankai." She stated to him. "Now while the strength increase in Bankai varies for each Soul Reaper, but it's generally between 5 to 10 times powerful then The Shikai form."

"That much!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Crazy huh?" She said grinning "That's why it takes roughly 10 years of training to master it's power"

"But I don't 10 years! I only have a few days!" he yelled.

"Relax, I'm well aware if this" She said, pulling out a strange white , person shaped item." but with this little contraption that Kisuke created, you can achieve Bankai in a time span of just 3 days"

"This device is called a Tenshintai, and it forces the spirit of your Zanpaktou into the real world." Yoruichi said, handing it to Ichigo. " I already know you can manifest it yourself to some degree, but this will for it to remain for the 3 day time period."

"So what do I do, let's get started!" Ichigo exclaimed, " What do I do?"

"Just a moment, I need to warn you that if you don't reach Bankai with in 3 days, using this device again ..could kill you" She said, very seriously. " if you understand the risks, then stab your Zanpaktou into it's center, to begin."

Hiyori started to protest about him doing this training but Ichigo, walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. He gently lifted her chin and looked her in her eyes. "I have to do this, just have faith in me, alright?"

She looked uncertain, but nodded anyway. He walked over and picked up the Tenshintai.

"Fine, I understand the risks, but it doesn't matter, cause I will get it , And I will save Rukia" He said, angrily. " Let's get going!"

He stabbed his Zanpaktou into it and a moment later Zangetsu appeared. "Hello again, Ichigo"

"Hello old man. So what do I have to do to achieve Bankai?" Ichigo asked gripping his Zanpaktou.

Zangetsu looked at him and waved his hand. Ichigo's sword disappeared and hundreds of swords, of all different shapes and sizes appeared, stuck in the ground. He turned to Ichigo and said " You must find the true Zangetsu amongst these swords and use it to defeat me in combat"

"Come, Ichigo. It is time to start your Bankai training" Zangetsu said, grabbing a random sword , While Ichigo did the same. "Good luck, you will need it"

Hiyori was sitting on a rock with Yachiru and said "Luck ,has nothing to do with it."

"Yoruichi.. Is it possible I could achieve Bankai as well?" Hiyori suddenly asked. "I can already manifest Kubikiri Orochi, and I've done some early training to achieve Bankai, but I've done it for only the last 4 years, I still have a ways to go"

Yoruichi put her hand on her chin and though for a moment, before reaching behind a large stone and producing a second Tenshintai. " I'm not exactly for this, but I have a strange feeling that we may need it's power in the very near future."

"So do I " Hiyori said, before releasing her Zanpaktou and stabbing the device.

A moment later a tall woman with short black hair, hanging in front of her left eye appeared. She had red, silted snake-like eyes, a darting snake's tongue, and was dressed in black and red gothic clothing. She had a black and red tank-top, with fishnet arm warmers, black and red mini skirt, thigh length socks that were black with red hearts, and black boots with metal bits on it.

She opened her mouth to lick her lips and revealed razor sharp teeth. "Hello little bitch, who I call master."

Hiyori grinned and replied. " Hello yourself, you crazy whore."

"My ,my you seem so different from little Hiyori here, Kubikiri Orochi." Yoruichi said, looking at her strange attire.

"She's different alright." Hiyori said, with a sneer. "She's a constantly horny slut who keeps trying to get me to do ..things"

"It's true, I am." Kubikiri replied, grinning. "But no matter how much I persuade her ,she just won't give in to her,.. naughty side and invite that sexy hunk of meat, Ichigo to a have a little fun with her."

Hiyori turned red and ad said "Shut up, I'm not doing that with him, so stop asking… Now come on let's continue our Bankai training."

"Fine.. But if you don't tell him how you feel eventually, another girl might snag him away from you, just keep that in mind, Hiyori." She said, walking away. " Now,.. I think I'll use the same training method that Zangetsu is using, so lets go to the far side of this training hall and get started."

Hiyori nodded and the 1st day of her 3 day training regiment, began.

Some distance away, at the Squad 4 relief barracks and hospital, Isane was in front of her captain, Retsu Unohana, the Captain of Squad 4 and head doctor of the medial department.

"You understand I was very worried about you, Isane…" Unohana said, looking down at her. " But you still aided a person who invaded us and killed one of the captains."

"This could be considered treason if it was discovered you helped him by your own free will… " She said, closing her eyes. " Even so, you did do so because you believed you were doing the right thing at the time. Do you have anything to say Lieutenant?"

Isane stood up and looked her captain in her eyes. "Yes, I do ma'am. I did knowingly help the Ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki, because I believe his mission to save his friend from an unfair, and unjust death is a noble one."

"It's not right Rukia Kuchiki should die, and It seems like someone or something is behind this." Isane said, looking determined. " If I could go back in time to decide on helping him again, I would gladly do so, because it's what is right."

Unohana opened her eyes and smiled. "I know and I agree. In fact my self, and Captain Ukitake and Kyoraku are working on a way to stop the execution by Sokyoku as we speak. Would you like to help?"

"Captain…yes ,.. yes I do" Isane said, smiling back. " When do we start?"

"Come, we begin now, and have lots of work to do." Unohana said, walking towards the door.

Many others were on the move throughout Seireitei, like Captain Hitsugaya and his Lieutenant , Rangiku Matsumoto. "Captain, how are we suppose to find Izuru and Hinamori?"

"I don't know but.. I'm fairly certain that wasn't even the real Izuru at this point.." Toshiro said, coming to a stop. "Then again…. ever since we visited the Squad 4 and Squad 3 barracks, I'm not sure what to think."

**-Flashback-**

"Captain Hitsugaya, and Lieutenant Matsumoto, what brinks you here?" Asked Captain Unohana, sitting at her desk, doing paperwork.

"Were here to see Momo, she was brought in by Izuru." Toshiro said folding his arms. "Which room is she in?"

"I'm sorry, Captain Hitsugaya, but as far as I know, Lieutenant Hinamori, wasn't brought here at anytime." Captain Unohana said. "Are you certain she was brought here? Perhaps she's at her barracks."

"No, she was brought here, by Lieutenant Izuru sometime ago!" Toshiro said.

"Captain.. What if that wasn't really Izuru?" Rangiku asked, nervously. "Like with Captain Ichimaru."

"Not the real one?" Captain Unohana asked , confused. " What do mean?"

Toshiro sighed and told her about his battle form earlier. "I see, it could be possible, though I've never heard of such a thing before."

"Either have I, but .. It doesn't matter ." Toshiro said turning around. "Come on Rangiku , we have to find Momo and Ichimaru….. And figure out what's going on."

"I'll try to find out anything on my end, with any information The department of Research and Development might have recorded." Captain Unohana said, standing up. "Good luck to both of you, and be careful"

Toshiro nodded and said "Right." with that him and Rangiku raced out the door.

They went to Squad 3 Barracks to discover Izuru was gone and hadn't been seen since the Lieutenant's meeting, things were getting stranger by the second.

**End of flashback…**

"Come we have to keep searching, until we find them" Toshiro said, gritting his teeth. "No rest until then, Rangiku, let's move!"

He flash stepped off and Rangiku sighed. And before going after him she thought, _Just what's going on.. And what are you up to, Gin?…_

**Later…**

"Alright, Ichigo, Hiyori, that's enough." Yoruichi said, jumping down off a large rock. "You've both done extremely well, better then I though you would have in fact, but you both need to call it a night and rest."

Both Ichigo and Hiyori had broken several dozen swords while fighting their individual Zanpaktou spirits. They were both bruised, cut up, exhausted, and they just nodded before dropping to the ground and tried to catch their breath.

"Alright you two, go get undressed and get into one of the two hot springs, you'll definitely find it very soothing." She said ,walking out of view.

Hiyori had just entered the hot spring and was almost immediately relaxed. "Hey there, mind if we join you?" asked a female voice, from behind her.

"Yeah, sure Yoruichi.. And I assume Yachiru is there as well?" Hiyori asked, not looking back. " Come on , in I guess."

Yoruichi slowly striped naked and carefully got in, while Yachiru , pulled off her clothes and jumped in splashing them both.

"Was that really necessary, you little pin haired weirdo?" Hiyori asked, wiping water out of her eyes with a towel.

"Now then Hiyori, how are things going with Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked grinning. "You ready to confess your love to him yet?"

Hiyori spit out the water, she had taking a sip of from a nearby flask. "What!… are my feeling's for that moron really that obvious, to everyone?"

"Pretty much, so when are you going tell him?" Yoruichi asked, again. "You still haven't answered me."

"I..I don't know.. I don't even know how he's feels about me.. " Hiyori said somewhat quietly. "What if he only likes me as a friend"

"Well you two relax, I need to do some training of my own" Yoruichi said getting out the hot spring. "I'll see you two later."

She walked away and found Ichigo ,alone In the other hot spring on the other side of the training area. She turned into a cat and said to him "Hello there Ichigo, how's the water?"

He turned around and saw her in cat form. "Oh Yoruichi, it's fine. What do want?"

"I wanted to ask you ..how do you feel about Hiyori?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the spring. "Do you like her,.. As in LIKE her, like her?"

Ichigo sputtered and tuned red. "I ..well that is.. I ..kind of like her.." He managed to sputter out. "Why?.."

"Oh no reason ,…I was just told by a certain yellow and red bird …" She said grinning as best as a cat can. "…That she likes you a lot too."

"Yeah ,I heard her say that…" Ichigo said, still somewhat red in the face. "She though I was asleep , But I heard her tell me, how much she liked me."

"So? Are you going to ask her out, to be your girlfriend?" She asked, moving closer to him. " You both love each other, so why not?"

"Well,… were kind of busy right now trying to save Rukia.." He said, thinking "After wards…I don't know.. maybe.. It's not like I've got much experience with girls or anything.."

"Well, at least Think about .." She said, walking away. "I'll see you later. There's food I set out by your Zanpaktous, make sure you eat and then get some rest for tomorrow's day 2 of the training."

**Some distance away, it was early the next morning and Toshiro and Rangiku had finally gotten a hint of Momo's Spritual pressure, and were in route to find her….**

"Come on Rangiku, we've finally found Momo's general trail, we can't loose it" Toshiro yelled to his Lieutenant.

"Yes sir , I know" Rangiku replied running behind him

Suddenly a loud speaker sounded making them both stop in there tracks.

"ATTENTION, SOUL REAPERS OF THE SEIREITEI, THE EXICUTION OF THE PRISONER, SOUL REPAER RUKIA KUCHIKI HAS BEEN CHANGED. THE EXICUTION HAS BEEN MOVED TO TOMORROW DECISION IS FINAL AND UNCHANGABLE. THAT IS ALL!"

"Sir, what's going on here?" Rangiku asked wide eyed. "Is Gin behind this?"

"I'm not sure , it certainly doesn't seem like something he would be able to do on his own though.." Toshiro said, eyes narrowed. " We need to find Momo and find out what's going on here… any maybe stop Rukia's execution as well"

"Are you sure captain?" Rangiku asked walking up beside him " I'm willing to help but.. If we go through with this ,were going to be in a lot of trouble.."

"I know, but I get the feeling it's something we have to do" He said, looking at her. "Come on we only have today and part of tomorrow to find Momo and help save Rukia Kuchiki, let's go!"

END OF CHAPTER 20

To be continued….. Next chapter

Please read, enjoy and review. See ya in a few with another chapter , everyone.


	21. Chapter 21

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 21

Momo Hinamori was waking up, and she wasn't sure where she was.

"Oh, so your awake, Momo" A male voice said.

She looked and Saw Captain Aizen standing next to Captain Ichimaru and Captain Tosen.

"Captain Aizen !" She exclaimed trying to stand up. " I thought… I though you were dead!"

She wrapped her arms around him and began to cry . He simply held her ,and let her cry till she done about 15 minutes later or so.

"Now, as you can see, I'm not dead. I had to fake my death in order to keep myself safe from the others" Aizen said, calmly.

"The others?" she asked confused.

"You see Momo, many members of 13 court guard squads are conspiring to take over everything and destroy everyone, Some wish to kill Rukia to get this power…" He said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "As for the invaders, they are working with some of another set of traitors, and there plans include rescuing Rukia, in order to get there hands on this power in a different way, this power is an object, called the Hogyoku"

"Then ..then what do we do , Captain Aizen?" Momo asked calming down. "How do we stop them?"

"Rukia Kuchiki is going to be executed tomorrow,.." Aizen said, walking several feet. " We must prepare ourselves, to keep her out of the hands of both invaders and traitors alike."

She looked unsure for a moment and then said "Um ..right! Well save the Soul Society!… So, what do we do first?"

Ichigo had been fighting against Zangetsu, and even though he had gotten faster, his control over Spiritual Pressure had increased and he had been able to fight with out having his sword break, he still wasn't close to achieving Bankai. The sword he had in his hand finally shattered while blocking Zangetsu, and he quickly jumped back and grabbed another one from the ground they were stuck in. This training was hard, but it didn't help that he now had Hiyori on his mind. He couldn't help but think about her confession to him, while he was supposedly asleep. He shock his head and tried to focus on his Bankai training as Zangetsu swung his sword at him.

On the other side of the training arena, Hiyori wasn't fairing much better then Ichigo. She was also having trouble focusing on her combat, with her mind continuously drifting to thoughts of Ichigo. She swung her sword at Kubikiri Orochi who ducked and brought her own sword upward at her. Hiyori blocked and kicked her sent her stumbling back. But Kubikiri flash stepped behind her and spun-kicked her in the back sending her flying.

She walked up to Hiyori, who was trying to stand back up. "You really need to stop thinking about your beloved . Ichigo isn't going anywhere for right now…" Kubikiri said, smiling. "Unless you wanna go make passionate love to him right now…"

Hiyori tried to turn her face to hide her beat red face as she said " Sh…shu.. Shut up !"

"Well if you won't talk about jumping him and having your way with him.." Kubikiri said, grinning. "…Then lets get back to training. You can think of it as stamina training to keep up with him when you and he finally.. Well.." She made a rude gesture of repeatedly sliding her pointer finger in between two other fingers.

Hiyori choose to ignore her , and keep her massive blush hidden from view. She gripped her sword and ran at Kubikiri, yelling "Enough talk! Fight!"

Meanwhile Ichigo was continuing to fight against Zangetsu when they all felt foreign Spiritual Pressure nearing the entrance of training arena. In walked the last person Ichigo expected to see, Renji Abarai.

"Well, I was right, Ichigo, you were here." Renji said grinning. "Long time no see."

Ichigo gripped the sword he currently had in his hands and gritted his teeth. _Great.. the last thing I need to stop and fight eyebrow man again… _

Renji seemed to sense Ichigo's thoughts and said. "Relax, I'm not here to fight.. I've thought a lot about hunting you down and killing you for taking Rukia's powers and causing her to be sentenced to be executed.."

"…But… After thinking about it long and hard.. I realized something ." Renji said, jumping down the ground. " I only have myself to blame, for not doing something to help her sooner, the way you are."

"I wanna help you, save Rukia… in fact I have some important information to tell you regarding her execution." He said, gritting his teeth. " Rukia's execution has been moved … to tomorrow after noon."

Yoruichi, Ichigo, Hiyori, and Yachiru all froze and were wide eyed. At this news. "Tomorrow after noon!" Yoruichi exclaimed… " Ichigo is close to Bankai.. And so is Hiyori,… but to reach it by tomorrow..?"

"We can do it, just trust us ,Yoruichi…" Ichigo said, fiercely. "Me and Hiyori WILL achieve Bankai by tomorrow !"

"I certainly hope so.." Yoruichi said looking up at the high ceiling that was panted to look like the daytime sky. " .. Or else we may all be in trouble…"

**The next day…**

It was nearly time for Rukia's Execution and Kukaku Shiba and Orihime suddenly found themselves in a jail cell. They didn't remember how they got there ,only that they encountered a Soul Reaper with Braided purple hair. They were both wearing strange things on there hands that suppressed Spiritual Pressure as well. Orihime looked over and saw someone else sleeping on another bed across from hers and Kukaku's. "Hey who's over there?" Orihime asked, the sleeping lump.

The lump moved and turned over to reveal Chad. "Orihime, Kukaku, what are you 2 doing here?"

"Chad? Were not entirely sure.. We just woke up." Orihime said, standing up. " How's you get here?"

"Tried to fight a Captain… didn't get far." Chad replied, sitting up. "By the way.. They moved Rukia's execution to today.. In fact it will occur in about 20 minutes or so…"

Orihime's eyes went big and she said " Oh no! what are we going to do!"

Chad stood up and pulled on his weird shackles until, surprisingly he broke them apart. "Holy shit, kid.. those were spiritual energy suppression cuffs! How you break them ?"

"That's cause Chad is unnaturally strong, even without Spiritual Pressure!" Orihime said, laughing.

Chad easily broke Orihime and Kukaku's cuffs and walked over to the wall of the cell. "Brace yourselves…" he said, putting his foot up.

He kicked the way ,hard and broke away a huge chunk of it. He then punched away enough of the rest of the wall to make room for him and the other's to get through.

"Good now that were free, the execution grounds are near here, so lets move!" Kukaku said, walking away.

Orihime and Chad both nodded and followed along, behind her.

**Meanwhile, at Sokyoku hill….**

The captains and Lieutenants had arrived to witness the execution of Rukia**. **Captain of Squad 2, Soifon looked around and only saw a few other captains besides her. "This is kind of pathetic." Soifon stated , looking to her left. "The only captains and Lieutenants present beside me are from squad's 1,4, and 8... Oh ,and there's Captain Kuchiki from squad 6, as well"

Byakuya didn't even look at Rukia while he passed by to join the other Captains. Rukia didn't expect him to say anything, but even still, it hurt her, emotionally.

"Miss Kuchiki.." A guff voice , belonging to Head-Captain Yamamoto, said. " Do you have any final words or wishes?"

"Yes,… Yes I do…" Rukia said, sadly. "I would like you to capture and return Ichigo and his friends to the world of the living, unharmed."

"Very well, I will honor your last request, miss Kuchiki " Yamamoto replied.

"Captain, .. How can the head captain be so cruel, as to lie to her?" Isane asked, her captain.

" Yes it is cruel to some degree, but it matters not, as soon as Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake arrive, it will all be dealt with." Unohana said, in a low tone of voice. " I jut hope they get here in time."

Isane nodded and said. "So do I, other wise it will be harder to stop this on our own."

" Move the prisoner to the correct position." Yamamoto stated.

Rukia was moved to a standing position underneath what looked like a huge doorway. Suddenly.

Three blocks erupted from the ground and rose up. One under each hand, the other under her feet. She rose up, standing straight up in the air, with her arms spread to the side, like a cross.

Before the Head captain could speak again, everyone felt immense Spiritual Pressure from all around them, everyone was visibly effect to some degree, even the head captain, who was every so slightly, sweating.

"Well isn't this just cozy, my little Hiyori-chan!" Said a male voice form on top of the doorway like object.

"I could agree more, Ichigo-kun." a female voice said back to him.

Everyone looked up and saw, Ichigo and Hiyori standing on top of the doorway. Ichigo had the same Shihoin clock and lots of bandages covering his arms and chest (like in the anime and manga when he rescued Rukia) however in stead of a normal top robe like other Soul Reapers wore, he had a sleeveless one and black fingerless gloves on his hands. Hiyori on the other hand wore an outfit completely different from her normal sweat-suit she normally wore. She had a black sleeveless shirt that only went down to just under her breasts. From there to her waist was white bandages, which were also on her arms from her elbows to her wrists. Instead normal Soul Reaper pants she wore the ninja-like ones of the Stealth-Force, and finally , she too had black finger-less gloves.

Rukia looked up and her eyes went wide, "Ichigo….Hiyori.."

"Who the hell are those two?" asked Soifon's fat, lazy Lieutenant. " And what's with at intense Spiritual Pressure?"

The Head captain, Captain Unohana, Lieutenant Isane, and Captain Kyoraku all recognized Hiyori, while Soifon only thought she looked somewhat familiar.

"Quickly release the Sokyoku!" the Head Captain bellowed.

But it never got unsealed, because Captain Ukitake appeared out of nowhere along with his two third seats, Kiyone, and Sentaro, who wrapped a large thick rope around the Sokyoku and drove one of two small pillars into the ground. Captain Kyoraku flash stepped over and pushed the other into the ground while grinning as he said " We though you wouldn't make it , Jushiro"

"Guards stop them!" Yamamoto yelled.

His rank-less Soul Reaper guards raced over only to be blocked by Captain Unohana and Isane.

" My apologies young ladies and gentlemen, but I can not allow to interfere with the destruction of the Sokyoku" Captain Unohana said in her scary but polite voice. She turned her head upward and looked at Ichigo and Hiyori. " If you plan on freeing her, now would be a good time ,you two"

Ichigo and Hiyori both nodded and pulled there Zanpaktous off of there backs and spun them around till they held them upside down, and proceeded to stab them into the top of the doorway they stood on.

"Hey, what are you two doing!" Rukia yelled up.

"Simple, midget, were going to break this doorway thingy, and set you free," Ichigo said, as gathered his Spiritual Pressure and channeled it through his Zanpaktou into the Doorway.. "Right, Hiyori-chan?"

She nodded back and released her Spiritual pressure through her Zanpaktou as well. A few moments later a huge explosion and smoke erupted and when it cleared, Ichigo was carrying Rukia under one arm and Hiyori was standing beside him with one hand leaning on his shoulder and the other holding her now unsealed Zanpaktou across her right shoulder, pointing back.

"I know you won't thank us, but that's ok, we knew you wouldn't." Ichigo said, glancing down at Rukia.

"Uh, Ichigo, what exactly did you plan on doing now?" Rukia asked, looking at him. "Where could we possibly go that would be safe?"

"We already got that covered, .." Hiyori said, turning her head. "Hey eyebrows, hurry it up!"

Renji appeared a moment later, with Yachiru on his back, trying to bite him "Oh shut it, me and the little monster are here already!"

"I'm not a monster !" Yachiru yelled, hitting him.

Renji! You're here too!" Rukia asked in surprise. " And Lieutenant Kusajishi as well!"

"Of course, I couldn't let Ichigo and Hiyori have all the glory" Renji, said smugly.

Yachiru bit Renji's ear, hard. And Renji yelled "Ah! Get it off of me!"

"Yachiru, stop it" Ichigo said calmly. " And get over here."

She immediately stopped, and said "Yes sir!" She jumped off of Renji kicking on her way, and landed on Ichigo's back, wrapping her arms around his neck loosely.

"Ok, you know where to take her right?" Ichigo asked, handing off Rukia to Renji.

He nodded before flash stepping off towards the training cave of Yoruichi ,with Rukia in his arms.

Soifon yelled for her Lieutenant Marechiyo Omaeda and the Squad 1, Lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe, to stop the intruders, but as they raced forward, Ichigo, Isane and Hiyori appeared in their paths, swords drawn.

Ichigo easily knocked Lieutenant Omaeda to the ground with one swing of his Zanpaktou, Hiyori grabbed Lieutenant Sasakiba's wrist and pulled him down before up kicking him in his chin and knocking him to the ground as well.

Beside them Isane was easily defeat a small group of unranked Soul Reapers, while Yachiru simply unleashed her pink Spiritual Pressure and drove another small group of unranked Soul Reapers to the ground. Suddenly Ichigo told Isane and Yachiru to get back and a split second after they did Ichigo and Hiyori both block the sword of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Your even slower then last time for us, Byakuya Kuchiki!" Ichigo said , grinning.

"It appears you've gain some speed boy,.. But all I want to know right now is, why you and your friends are so persistent on saving Rukia.?" Byakuya asked, his sword still sliding against Ichigo and Hiyori's.

"You know before I might have answered your stupid question, but there's obviously no point,.." Ichigo replied back. " Instead , me and Hiyori here are going to kick your ass and get Rukia out of here, end of discussion."

"Very well, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Hiyori, I will simply kill the both off you," Byakuya said confidently, "..Before I find Rukia, and slit her throat, myself."

Ichigo and Hiyori raced at him sword pointed forward, while Byakuya did the same., causing them to meet in the middle in a clash of sparks.

Some distance away, Toshiro and Rangiku had tracked the Spiritual Pressure of Hinamori to Central 46, and found the guards and locks to the doors were gone. The made there way inside and found, to there horror, all 46 judges dead.

"Captain ,what's going on around here…?" Rangiku asked, out of breath for running around so much "Nothing seems to make any sense these days!"

"I …I don't know what's-… hey I heard a noise !" Toshiro said, looking around. "There.. It's coming from the sleeping areas for the judges!, come on !"

They ran down the stairs and went into the rest area. They heard talking and one of the curtains at the entrance to one of the judge's rest chamber parted open….. And a very much alive Captain Aizen walked out.

"Ah, Captain Hitsugaya, I was wonder how long you'd stay upstairs." He said calmly. "Long, time no see ,I suppose."

"You.. your alive?" Toshiro exclaimed wide-eyed. "But, I saw your body in the infirmary!"

"That? That was merely…. a distraction…" Aizen replied. "To stop all of you from your destructive goals."

"Goals?" Rangiku asked, puzzled. "What goals?"

"There's no need to pretend.. Right, Momo ?" Aizen replied, stepping to the side.

Behind him was Momo Hinamori, but she looked somewhat angry and dark circles under her eyes.

"Toshiro.. Rangiku.. We won't let you and your friends get away with it!" Momo cried out. "We'll stop you, all of you !"

Both Toshiro and Rangiku were at a loss for words at this point. Momo hesitantly drew her Zanpaktou from it's sheath. "I'm.. I'm sorry it has to be this way.. Lil' Shiro… Snap! Tobiume!"

Before Toshiro could react, he found himself stabbed through his stomach by a crying Momo. "I'm sorry, Toshiro…" She said, tears streaming down hr face. "I didn't want it to be this way, but I couldn't.. I couldn't let you do such horrible things"

"TOSHIRO!" Rangiku yelled running to him. But she didn't make it very far, and instead found her face being shoved into the wall at high enough speeds to leaves cracks and a small dent in the wall.

She slid down and fell onto her back, blood running down her face from a clearly broken nose. At this point, Momo fell to her knees and bawled her eyes out. Aizen out his hands on her shoulders and stood her up. "I know your sad.. But it had to be done" He said calmly to her. ".. Just like this."

Just as she looked up, she found her self stabbed through the middle by Aizen's blade. "Captain Aizen…why did you…" She said before collapsing to the ground. As she bled, Aizen smiled down at her.

"You've been a excellent Lieutenant, and a big help in eliminating the only ones who knew anything at all about where I was." He said calmly as he smiled. " But now your no longer useful to me, ..goodbye, Momo."

He slowly exited the area, with a smiling Gin Ichimaru in tow. "Kaname, finish off Rangiku, would you?, then meet up with us, we still have things to do." Aizen said, not looking back.

Kaname gave a small nod and walked over to the target. He pulled out his Zanpaktou.. But couldn't strike, all he could do was think about his female friend form when he was younger. _How would she judge me on this day?…_ He put his sword back in his sheath and walked away. He wouldn't spill any undeserving blood this day, and_ perhaps the girl can save one or both of her companions, who are both massively injured… _he thought as he walked away.

**Meanwhile, at the top of Sokyoku hill…**

Ichigo , Hiyori were all clashing swords against Byakuya's sword at high speeds ,using flash step. After doing this for some time they stop for a moment, Ichigo and Hiyori on one side and Byakuya some distance away, opposite of them. They all looked like they had put out barley any energy over the past few minutes, with Ichigo and Hiyori grinning.

"You know this is kind of pathetic isn't it, Hiyori-chan" he said to her casually, while Byakuya merely raised an eyebrow. " If we keep on taking it so easy on him, this is going to take forever, huh?"

"That's for sure, no challenge either, and it's kinda boring too" Hiyori said, nodding. "If he used Bankai.. Well maybe this would be a actual challenge for us, right Ichigo-kun ?"

"So use your Bankai, so can defeat you, and make you apologies to Rukia for what you've done." Ichigo said, pointing his Zanpaktou at Byakuya.

"So pathetic.. Your both too early die by my Bankai," Byakuya said, pointing his sword upward. "Nothing you say or do will change Rukia's fate… so now, it's time for you both too die… Scatter.. Senbonzakura .."

The blade of Byakuya's Zanpaktou,, turned into pink cherry-blossom petals and shot out in a tunnel formation towards Ichigo and Hiyori , who both remained still with neutral expressions on there faces.

At the last moment, Ichigo swung his blade and a huge explosion of light blue energy in the shape of a crescent moon. This destroyed all of the cherry-blossom blades from Byakuya's sword, cause it to reform a blade once again. Byakuya's hand was also bleeding as it held the sword handle and let the blade return to him.

As his blade reformed, Byakuya asked, " That moon shaped wave of energy… was that the true power of your Zanpaktou?"

The smoke, which had erupted during the attack, reveled a huge long, opening the ground ending near Byakuya. Ichigo and Hiyori stood there calmly, and Ichigo said " Yes, it is. My Zanpaktou, Zangetsu, absorbs my Spiritual energy, then it releases it in a highly condensed form. I never use to know what it was called, until I was taught about it. It's called,… Getsuga Tensho."

"Piercer of Heavens?… how pretensions.." Byakuya said, holding his sword upside-down. "However, you do seem to want to die,, so I'll grant you your wish, and show you my Bankai, Ichigo Kurosaki."

He let go of the sword and it sank into the ground "I hope you both try not die too soon Ichigo Kurosaki, Hiyori… now, Bankai."

A large row of giant sword blades rose out of the ground, forming a hall of sorts. He looked at them and said. " Now Scatter, Senbonzakura, Kageyoshi.."

The giant blades glowed bright pink and shattered into billions upon billions of tiny blades shaped like cheery-blossoms petals, these then formed a huge pink mass. Ichigo moved to the side wile Hiyori unleashed an attack of her own against Byakuya. " Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu !" She shouted and swinging her sword in his direction.

"How interesting.." Byakuya said, quietly, as the mass of his tiny pink blades, shot up in front of him, taking the force of Hiyori's attack. ".. Hyper air blades, huh?.. An excellent technique to be sure."

"Damn, he blocked that pretty fast, huh!" Hiyori said, looking over at Ichigo, who nodded back.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes and the mass of blades shot behind Ichigo and Hiyori, and struck down hard. As it did, Byakuya said, in a monotone voice " The strength of my sword's Bankai lies in being able to attack from any direction, at high speeds, even more then one place at a time. "

"While both of you have impressive abilities, your just not strong enough to defeat my blade." He said, looking forward.

Both Ichigo and Hiyori managed to stand up, and were covered in dozens of tiny cuts, that were all bleeding. "It was pretty stupid of us ..*cough* to think we could defeat his Bankai using only our Shikai's wasn't it?"

"Yeah I guess so… the way were going to defeat him, is for each of us to use our own Bankai." Hiyori said, grinning, despite the pain from the bleeding cuts and gashes.

Byakuya actually went wide-eyed for a moment as he asked " What did you say?…."

"You heard her, even if you don't want to believe it." Ichigo said grinning at him. " We're going to defeat you, . And were going to use our Bankai's to do it!"

Ichigo's eyes glowed bluish-white as he said " Pay attention, and try not to die to soon, Byakuya Kuchiki!"

Some distance away form the battle, Toshiro opened his eyes and saw crying Rangiku kneeling over a still Momo. "Rang…Rangiku.." He said slowly.

She looked over , quickly, "Captain,.. Your ok!…. Try,.. try not to move, I'm not very good at healing Kidos and I barely managed to close your sword wound. It will only hold if you don't move around, at least till help arrives."

" I am ok.. Thank you.. Is Momo…?" He asked slowly,

New tears began to slide down her face.. As she shook her head. "I'm sorry captain.. By the time I came to she was had already bled to death, there was nothing I could do….. So I tried to help you the best I could.."

He laid back down, tears welling up as he gritted his teeth and said "I see… Aizen… I will get you for this… I promise… you"

"I sent a hell butterfly to Squad 4, help should be here soon." Rangiku said, wiping the tears off of her face. " Why do such horrible things happen like this..?"

Toshiro stared at the ceiling thinking about his childhood friend Momo. And thought rather then spoke a response _,I wish I knew, Rangiku.. I truly do…._

End of chapter 21

Sorry about the longer then usual update time, I've been busy, I hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know what you think. See ya in a few!


	22. Chapter 22

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Sorry about the longer then usual update time, I've been busy. I hope you like it though.

Chapter 22

As Squad 4 arrived to treat Captain Hitsugaya, Ichigo and Hiyori were still facing down Byakuya, on top of Sokyoku hill. Byakuya's thought were jumbled as Ichigo and Hiyori thrust their Zanpaktous forward and grinned confidently.

_Bankai…. The final stage of release for a Soul Reaper's Zanpaktou… It is rare for a Soul Reaper to achieve Bankai, even among the noble families of the Soul Society. But these two…. Could they really achieved Bankai? The boy, he became a Soul Reaper by absorbing Rukia's.. and the girl, she carries a Zanpaktou, has knowledge of Kido, can activate Shikai form,.. She was obviously a Soul Reaper.. But that raises more question then it answers._

_These two have Spiritual Pressure at a level beyond that of a Captain , that it begs the question.. Just who or what are these two beings?…_

Ichigo and Hiyori gathered their Spiritual Pressure around them and simultaneously yelled out, "Bankai!"

A large wave of intense Spiritual Energy swirled around the area along with lots of smoke. Byakuya was only protected by the cheery blossom blades of his Bankai, that shot up in front of him like a shield. The energy swirled smaller and smaller and till two figures were visible through the thinning smoke. When it completely disappeared Ichigo and Hiyori were finally visible again.

Ichigo was wearing the same Soul Reaper clothes as before, except the sleeveless top robe was longer and ragged. His Zanpaktou was the most changed though, and though it was still just as long, it was now skinny and the entire thing, blade, hilt and guard were all black. I t also had a small chin hanging off the end of the hilt.

As for Hiyori, her costume was also the same as before except for the fingerless gloves were replaced by black and red hand guards. Connected to these hand guards by small but strong black metal chains, were miniature hand sickles, or kusarigamas, one held in each hand. They had black handles, and grey and black blades. The bottom part of the blades were jagged and they each had a small, red snake shaped eye towards the top of the blades, near the handles.

Hiyori and Ichigo looked at Byakuya, and Ichigo said. "Tensa, Zangetsu"

Hiyori grinned and said "And mine are called ,Tsuin Kobura-Tou"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, and said " Chained Piercer of Heaven , and.. Twin Cobra Sickle?… So you call those little things, your Bankai form of your Zanpaktous?"

They both looked at him funny and simply stood still.

"A Bankai, the final form of a Zanpaktou… but once again you both walk all over our traditions, the same way one may walk over the grass…" Byakuya said, somewhat calmly, " But rest assured, this will be the last this happens. I will crush both of you, and then kill Rukia, putting an end to this pathetic rescue attempt of you and your friends"

Byakuya blinked and the next thing he knew Ichigo was on his left with side of his Zanpaktou up against the left side of his neck , while Hiyori was on his right, with her two sickle weapons also press against his neck. "You talk too much, Byakuya" Ichigo stated, smiling, while Hiyori said. "And your way too over confident about yourself, as well, asshole"

They both pulled their weapons away and jumped back as Byakuya went over what had just happened to him, in his mind. _For a brief instant, when I blinked, I lost sight of both of them and had absolutely no time to react to them._

"Why did you two , remove your blades away from my neck, just now?" Byakuya asked, calmly. " You had the perfect opportunity to end my existence and keep Rukia out of danger.. Was it over confidence?"

Neither Ichigo or Hiyori responded to him and stood there, gripping there weapons.

"I'll say it again, it is impossible for two mere Ryoka to gain the power of Bankai," Byakuya said, standing ready. "Now I will crush both of you, for failing to use your once in a lifetime chance to kill me."

Using his hands he shot the mass of pink colored mini blades at them , which they jumped out of the way of. Ichigo dashed in swinging his sword at Byakuya only to be blocked by the pink blade mass. Ichigo immediately flash stepped out of the way while Hiyori attacked from afar, having swung her sickle by the chain at him and then pulled it back. She too flash-stepped out of sight and appeared near him .One of her sickles shot past him, barely missing him, and only then because his the blades of his Senbonzakura deflected at the last moment.

_What is this? Their speed… my Senbonzakura , can't keep up with them! _Byakuya though, his eyes wide.

Ichigo and Hiyori grinned evilly at each other before flash-stepping around Byakuya so fast they appeared to be everywhere at once. As they raced around Ichigo said " Hey, Hiyori-chan? Think we should speed up a little?"

Hiyori replied with " Yeah I think we should, we can always go a little faster, for him"

"Arrogant fools…" Byakuya muttered. _There's nothing that can out run the blades of my Senbonzakura.. _He thought as he held one hand up and directed the pink mass towards where Ichigo and Hiyori were heading.

_Got them! _he thought, as the pink mass of blades closed in on the pair from all sides. But as the did he saw them scattered away by a flurry of sword swings, by Ichigo, who moved his sword faster then he could blink. He looked over at Hiyori and she too repelled them , only instead of a sword, she had her long chained sickles swinging around her in two alternating figure eight patterns, also moving at incredibly high speeds.

_Impossible!… they deflected every single blade that shot at them… _Byakuya thought, staring in disbelief. "You know, you said that getting the drop on you, was a once in a life time thing." said a male voice from behind him. " So what do call this?"

He looked behind him and saw Ichigo holding his Zanpaktou against the back of his neck ,and then some in front of him, to see Hiyori pointing both of her Sickles at his, uh.., most prized possessions.

They both backed away, once again as the pink mass shot at them. They came to a stop not far away from him, weapons ready.

"Now I see, what you two hold are indeed the Bankai form of your Zanpaktous" Byakuya said, looking at them. "You both compress your powers into small weapons, in order to move at lightning fast speeds. You abilities are both admittedly impressive, however… I will still crush you and end this"

_Meanwhile…_

Chad, Kukaku, and Orihime were running up a very long, and tall, flight of stairs, towards the execution grounds.

"The closer to the top of the damn thing we get, the stronger the Spiritual Pressure at the top feels." Kukaku said, running beside Orihime. "It feels a hell of a lot stronger then Ichigo's ,are you sure it's his Orihime?"

"Were at the top, so will find out right now" Chad said, from ahead of them.

The three of them came to a stop and found them selves by a small forest.

"What the fuck is up with a forest being up here?" Kukaku asked, raising one eyebrow. " Are we sure Ichigo's near here?"

"Yes, I'm certain of it." Orihime said, looking forward. "I've know the scent of Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure since we arrived here in the Soul Society, and I can say without hesitation , that even though it's heaver, it's still Ichigo's"

"Wait a second…" Chad said, steeping forward. "I don't sense Rukia's Spiritual Pressure anywhere near here… were we too late?"

"No, midget girl got away, along with eyebrows" Replied a voice from above them.

They looked up and saw a small pink haired girl wearing a Soul Reaper's Shihakusho, sitting on tree branch, kicking her legs back and forth.

"Who are you, little girl?" Orihime asked her, walking up to the tree. "And why are you out here?"

"I'm not a little girl, I'm the Lieutenant of Squad 11, Yachiru Kusajishi." She replied. " But who are you ,Jiggles Jr. ?"

Orihime turned red, and stuttered out " I…I'm.. I'm Ori.. Orihime. Were Ichigo's friends."

"Oh ok, I'm also Ichi's friend. And I've been traveling with him and pigtails girl for quite a few days now." Yachiru said, hopping down. " I can't wait to see Ichi, and pigtails crush Byaku!"

"Byaku?…" Chad asked, confused.

"She means Byakuya Kuchiki, the Captain of Squad 6. That's who Ichigo and Hiyori are fighting against right now." Said a tall girl with grey hair, who walked up to them. "By the way, my name is Isane, the Lieutenant of Squad 4, I was also traveling with Ichigo, Hiyori and Lieutenant Kusajishi."

"You were with Ichigo and Hiyori too? Huh, that kids a regular pimp isn't he?" Kukaku said, laughing. "He's just surrounded by girls of all ages."

Orihime and Isane both had a redness appear on their cheeks, but remained silent, while Yachiru just looked confused.

" If Rukia is safe, then why is Ichigo still fighting?" Asked Chad, scratching his head.

"It's not that simple, kid. Even though Rukia's safe, they will still come after her." Kukaku said, wisely. If even a few of the threats remain, it could mean a major headache for us all, and we could all still be in danger. That's why my little brother is out there, fighting right now, for her.. And for us."

Back , not far away, Ichigo and Hiyori were still facing off against Byakuya, who grabbed at Ichigo's sword as it thrust at him, and allowed himself to have his hand cut.

"What the hell?, are you some kind of masochist, or something ?" Yelled out Hiyori.

"Hardly, it was necessary in order for me to show you two, the true form of Senbonzakura." Byakuya, said, calmly as blood dripped off of his hand. " Not many see this form, see you should be flattered somewhat"

Ichigo and Hiyori stared as the pink mass of tiny blades, formed dozens of katana sized swords, that form a barrier around the three of them. These blade slowly rotated around them and Byakuya said " Senkai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi "

Ichigo and Hiyori looked wide eyed at the huge amount of moving swords around them.

Byakuya seemed to sense what they were thinking and said. "Don't worry, these blades will not attack at once, like your clearly afraid of happening. I fully intend to kill you two personally, so relax, and enjoy this"

"Really now?" Ichigo asked, gripping his Zanpaktou. "Then lets continue."

"Indeed" Byakuya said, simply, as he raised his hand to the side.

A single pink glowing sword sot to his hand and became a regular Zanpaktou again.

Then all three race to meet in the middle, weapon clashing against weapon, and sparks flying. Byakuya jumped back and pointed his hand towards them. One by one, the pink glowing swords that surrounded them, shot out of there places and Ichigo and Hiyori had to use flash step to dodge them and they shot into the ground at them.

Hiyori growled at spun her kusarigamas ,Tsuin Kobura-Tou, in two circle patterns, and then yelled " Uindo-Ken Tama !", before throwing them downward into the ground. They emerged from under Byakuya and shot up around him forming tight multiple sphere like patterns, that blocked him form view after a minute or so as it continued moving around him.

The blades stopped moving and moved in reverse, reveling Byakuya trapped in a sphere of dense wind and was cutting him up as it passed by him. Byakuya tried to destroy the dense wind sphere by raising his left hand and turning his current sword into the tiny pink blades again, to cut into it. The wind however, was far to sharp and dense and simply destroyed every single tiny blade as well as nearly cutting the tendon on of his left wrist into two.

Byakuya stumbled slightly and blood slid down his wrist and hand, he was lucky it was not his right hand or he wouldn't be able to hold his sword anymore.

"You both think your very cleaver , don't you?" Byakuya said, standing still. "You also think your both good, however, so am I.."

He disappeared in a flash-step and grabbed Ichigo's arm ,holding it down. He brought up his bleeding arm and pointed it the best he could at him. " Hado number 4, Byakurai"

A small beam of white/blue energy shot out, pierced Ichigo's left shoulder and shot straight through. No sooner then Ichigo had stumbled and crouch from the pain, Hiyori race forward but was stopped when Byakuya once again flash-stepped, this time behind her. Then, before she could turn around, Byakuya said in calm voice, " Hado number 3, Kaji Ryuusui"

A small stream of fire hit her point blank and sent her flying back quite a ways before she hit the ground and rolled to stop. She struggled to get up but could only manage to get up on all fours before collapsing again in pain. She was also out of breath and felt kind of dizzy.

"I will admit, you both gave me quite a challenge, but you've reached your limits" Byakuya said, raising his hand for another sword to shoot over from the floating rows, into his grip. " Now you will die, then she will die… and finally I hunt Rukia, and she will die too. Then this foolish rescue mission, will be over with."

Hiyori couldn't keep her eyes open, from the pain of being burned. She could only grit her teeth and watch as Byakuya stood over Ichigo, holding his sword. He kicked Ichigo in his ribs and knocked him to the floor. _No ..Ichigo.. I can't loose you.. But I can't do anything… Ichigo… __**I can help queen, or have you forgotten about me? **_Said a voice from within her, that Hiyori heard quite clearly. _My Hollow… __**That's right, it's me. Now are you going to let me do this, or do you want us to loose our precious Ichigo forever! **__But I.. __**But nothing, look over there , the Byakuya guy is reading his sword, he's going kill our Ichigo, we have to kill him before he does! **__… __**If you won't make the decision to stop him ,then I'll make it for you! **_

Byakuya heard Hiyori gasp and stopped to look over at her. She got up on one knee and looked in his direction. He was shocked to see blackness in her eyes, slowly taking the place of the white parts, while her irises turned gold. She grinned evilly before holding her hand by the top of her head and lowering it downward. As she did ,a strange white mask , with a large horn in the middle, began to form over her face.

_What in the name of.. Kami is that thing? _Byakuya though to himself as he stared at her.

Hiyori stood up and grinned as the last of the strange ,but evil looking mask covered her face completely. She gripped her Tsuin Kobura-Tou as disappeared even faster then one could using flash-step. Byakuya looked around and saw nothing, but definitely heard a strange, laughing voice , that sounded like two girls talking at once.

" _**So.. You think you have the right to hurt our Ichigo like that do you?.. Hahahaha …." **_The double voice said, laughing evilly. " _**Were going to slice off each of your limbs, and then burn them so you don't bleed to death on us" **_

Between the creepy double voice, and the powerful ,heavy and evil Spiritual Pressure Hiyori was brining forth, Byakuya actually felt fear.

Hiyori started talking again. " _**After we do that, we're going to stab you, and pour salt in your wounds, make you suffer, make you wish you were dead…but not grant your wish, Hahahaha!…. Better yet, we'll just playing with you right now!"**_

Byakuya turned to the let and something, barely visible, shot by him, cutting deep gash into his arm. He gripped at it bleed on for the same thing to happen on his right, a moment later. Then another , flash, and several gashes appeared on his back. He looked forward and saw Hiyori appear, and race forward towards him. She laughed out as she wildly sliced at him, at such a ferocious speed , that he could barely block her attacks.

" _**Come on, come on, have some fun, actually put up some kind of fight, will ya**_?" She yelled out at him, never slowing down her strikes.

Not far away, Ichigo opened his eyes as saw A Hollowfied Hiyori easily defeating Byakuya, but then he noticed she wasn't trying to defeat him she was.. She was going to kill him! "Hiyori… Stop !" Ichigo yelled out to her.

She heard him just as she slashed out and made Byakuya almost fall. "_**Ichi…Ichigo!… No , he must pay for hurting you! He must die, we won't let him live!" **_She yelled out.

He managed to stand up, and leaned on his Zanpaktou for support. He stumbled to her. " He already gone, Hiyori, look for yourself."

She looked over and saw Byakuya barley standing up. "Enough… I will pursue Rukia, no more.. " Byakuya said, dropping the remains of his nearly completely shattered Zanpaktou on to the ground, only holding onto the hilt. " You have my word, on, this… and I wont bother asking what hell you are either.. It's quite clear your both too strong for me too defeat, so I bid you farewell"

Byakuya then flash-stepped away, leaving a still Hollowfied Hiyori and an injured Ichigo standing there.

"_**Shouldn't we , …go after him?**_" Hiyori asked, clenching her weapons, tightly. "_**He needs to pay**_…"

Ichigo wrapped his arms around Hiyori and pulled her close. "Don't worry about it, just come back to me, alright, my little snaggletooth?"

"_**Ichi.. **_Ichigo.. I .. I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her." Hiyori said, tearing up as she snaked her arms around Ichigo, as her mask broke away, and her eyes returned to normal. "Even though I long ago, defeated her, the angrier I get, the more powerful she gets. She didn't want us to loose you.."

"Hiyori…" Ichigo said smiling. "Well ,I'm right, here, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Ichigo, Hiyori, are you two all right?" Said a familiar voice from ,behind them.

They let go of each other and looked behind Ichigo. It was Orihime who had spoken, and Chad and Kukaku Shiba were also there standing.

"Hey there, Orihime, Yeah ,were a little banged up, but alright none then less." Ichigo said, smiling. " Good to see you , Chad and my big sister, Kukaku are alright as well."

"Glad to see it , and hear it, little brother." Kukaku said, grinning. "why don't you start healing them up, Orihime"

"Oh ,right, Have a seat you two, and I'll start healing!" Orihime said, laughing gently. " BY the way, you totally kick that Soul Reaper's ass, huh!"

"Uh,, Orihime you really, need to stop picking up those, …colorful,.. words from Tatsuki." Ichigo said, flopping down ,and taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, what he said." Hiyori said, almost falling to the ground, before being steadied by Ichigo as she sat down next to him. "And yeah, we totally did kick his ass, and rescued Rukia earlier too."

"Yeah we know, the evil little pink haired midget told us ,when we got up here" Kukaku said, looking around the area. "Where is that brat anyway?"

"I'm right here!" Yachiru said, hopping up on Ichigo's shoulders and hugging his neck " That was really cool, Ichi! The way you and pigtails here, kicked Byakki's stuck up ass!"

"Ahh! Don't sneak up on people like that! If I wasn't in soul form, right now, I would have jumped out of my skin!" Ichigo exclaimed, before trying to sit still again so Orihime could heal him and Hiyori.

As Orihime healed them, she thought to herself. _After seeing Ichigo and Hiyori together like that, I know I don't stand a chance.. But even so, I 'm so thankful your alive Ichigo, and no matter what, I will always...love you…_

**Quite some distance away,…**

Captain Aizen and Captain Ichimaru were walking just outside of central 46, when they felt the familiar spiritual Pressure of two Soul Reapers, nearby. "Why hello there,…" Aizen started, before turning around . "Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu , fancy meeting you both here on such a lovely afternoon."

"Hello my fellow Captains.. No that's not right. " Captain Unohana said, walking forward. " After you injured Lieutenant Matsumoto, Killed Lieutenant Hinamori, and nearly killed Captain Hitsugaya, you two don't deserve the titles of Captain, do you? ,Gin Ichimaru, and Sosuke Aizen.?"

"I wish I could say, seeing you both here was unexpected, but very little is ever unexpected to me" Aizen said calmly, as he smiled. "Was I really this easy to figure out?"

"In the Soul Society, it is forbidding for anyone, not summoned, to enter this area at central 46." She replied, coming to a stop. " …Using a corpse doll to fake your own death was a good Idea, though it was not perfect, though it did at least serve it's purpose to allow you to hide yourself and walk around the Seireitei, without any interruptions, and to use this place to hide out freely, didn't it?"

"Your very smart, however, a few of your "facts" are incorrect" Aizen replied to her. " I didn't come here to hide from everyone, and this, is not a corpse doll at all."

He held up a second body of himself ,that was previously not seen.

"When did he take that out, Captain Unohana?" Isane asked, in surprise

"Take it out? Whatever do you mean?" Aizen asked, smiling . "it's been here this entire time, I just chose not to let you see it ,before now"

"What!" Isane exclaimed, as her Captain wore a similar expression on her face.

"Watch carefully, both of you. And you'll see what I mean" Aizen said, holding the body up. "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu"

The body shatter away, to reveal Aizen holding his Zanpaktou. "This is the true power of my Zanpaktou. Complete, and utter hypnosis."

"No, that's wrong !" Isane said, clenching her fist "Kyoka Suigetsu is and always has been a water Zanpaktou! I was there when you demonstrated it's ability to confuse the enemy with fog !"

"I see, that was when the hypnosis ritual first took place for most of us, wasn't it?" Unohana calmly asked.

"correct,.. And my "complete hypnosis" controls all 5 sense's of the person who sees it" Aizen said, sliding his Zanpaktou into his sheath. " I can use it's power to make my enemy think, see, feel, hear, and smell, what ever I choose. I can make a dragon fly appear to be a hollow, or a single blade of grass to be a marsh. And the only thing required t fall under it's spell, … Is to see my Zanpaktou, Kyoka Suigetsu, released just once."

"Just once?" Unohana said quietly.

"Just once.. After that they will permanently be under my control. How ever, it doesn't work on those who can't see it, released…" Aizen said, grinning " In other words, Captain Kaname Tosen.. Became my subordinate , under his own free will."

"Captain Tosen? What are you doing here?" Renji asked, holding onto Rukia, some distance away from Aizen and the others. "I need to get through, please"

Tosen looked like he hesitated for moment before, pulling out white cloth. The white cloth swirled around himself, Renji and Rukia in a sphere like pattern.

At the same time Ichimaru did the same around himself and Aizen. "Before I leave you, allow me to compliment you on seeing through me , despite being under my Zanpaktou's spell, well done indeed. Good bye, Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu, we won't be meeting again."

In a flash they were gone , and so were Renji, Tosen and Rukia. They all appeared on Sokyoku hill, and startled Ichigo, Hiyori, Orihime, Kukaku, and Yachiru.

"Hello there Renji" Aizen said, smiling. " Good to see you again"

"Cap.. Captain Aizen? Your alive?" Renji exclaimed ." What's going on here?"

"There's no to concern yourself, you just need to do one thing." Aizen said, steeping forward. "Put Rukia down , and step away.. Before I have to kill you, Renji"

Renji could only stared in disbelief at what Captain Aizen had just said. " What.. What did you just say?" he asked, still holding onto Rukia.

"You didn't hear me? Strange, perhaps the wind from being so high up , on this hill , blocked my voice from you.." Aizen said, somewhat surprised. " I will repeat it then.. Place Rukia on the ground and move away from her , before I kill you. Was that clear enough this time?"

"The only question now is,.. Will you comply or die where you stand? .." Aizen said, nearing his eyes, ever so slightly. " You have 1 minute to decide, choose carefully."

END OF CHAPTER 22

To be continued, next chapter…..

As always, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya in a few days or so with chapter 23. Peace till then!


	23. Chapter 23

_**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**_

_**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**_

_Sorry about the longer then usual update time, I've been busy. I hope you like it though._

_Chapter 23_

_Some distance away at the exact same time as Sosuke Aizen had reveled the truth to the Captain and Lieutenant of Squad 4, Captain Soifon of Squad 2 had chased down the Ryoka only to be intercepted by one of them and she chased the intruder to a area near the forest edge. Both Soifon and the Ryoka landed and squared off, tensely. _

_Soifon stepped forward, and said " Alright ,you look familiar, but since I can't place you, just tell me who you are!"_

"_Now, now, little bee," Said the figure, lowering a white cloth that had covered her face. " You don't recognize your old mentor?" _

_Soifon's eyes went wide. " Lady.. Yoruichi!…."_

"_That's right, my little bee," Yoruichi said, taking the cloth off completely. "Really long time no see, so tell me how have things been, since I left?"_

"_You have no right to joke around!" Soifon yelled, drawing her Zanpaktou. " Now I expect, a reason,.. Of why you left me like that!"_

_Yoruichi had a glimmer of sadness run through her eyes, before closing them and shaking her head. "I'm sorry, But I had my reasons then,.. Just like I have my reasons for not telling you now"_

"_Grrrrr….TELL ME, NOW!" Soifon yelled racing forward and swing her Zanpaktou at Yoruichi wildly. " Tell me now, I want to know, I need to know!"_

"_Sorry, But I can't" Yoruichi replied, as she continuously jumped back out of reach of Soifon's sword. "Besides, right now, you need to worry about calming down, little bee."_

"_You have no right to tell me what to do!" Soifon sneered, stabbing her sword forward, and almost impaling Yoruichi. " After you stopped being my commander, you no longer have that right!"_

_Yoruichi sighed, then swiftly kicked Soifon in her stomach, sending her straight back a few feet into a tree. Yoruichi then put her hand on her hip, and sighed again before taking a few steps forward._

"_Your anger,… your emotions are a double edged sword, Soifon,… they can be a powerful ally in battle." She said, placing one hand on Soifon's shoulder. " Or they can be your worse enemy. And you, my little bee, are currently facing against 2 opponents, me,.. And your own anger."_

_Soifon's eyes shot open, and she yelled " MY anger is all I have left!" She then vanished from sight, causing Yoruichi to become wide-eyed._

_How…she's actually moved faster then me just now…. is that even possible? _Yoruichi though to herself, as she tried to sense where Soifon had gone. She felt a large source of Spiritual Pressure from behind her, and heard the words " Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi !"

She barely had time to flash step out of the way when Soifon appeared crouching with her transformed Zanpaktou, now a glove and small gold stinger-like blade, pointing forward, with a small amount of blood dripping off the end of it.

Yoruichi flash-stepped to a stop not far away from Soifon _Damn.. Soifon's gotten a lot faster since the last time I saw her.. _"Not bad, Soifon, it seems you've gotten a bit stronger" Yoruichi said, crouching and holding her shoulder where Soifon had sliced her. "you actually managed to cut me, you should be proud of yourself."

"And you should be more careful, and more observant. Look at your arm again, Lady Yoruichi, it's far more then a mere "cut', as you put it" Soifon said, grinning evilly.

Yoruichi looked and saw a black ,butterfly shaped mark on her arm, where she had been cut by Soifon. " I guess I must have forgotten about this, Soifon, you've managed to use it at will now, congratulations"

"I wouldn't be so quick to congratulate me, if I were you." Soifon said, readying her blade again. " Unlike before the mark, won't disappear unless I command it too, and furthermore, if I strike you in the same place twice… you'll die instantly, That is Suzumebachi's special ability!"

"Well it seems, this is going to be an interesting fight… guess I'll get more comfortable" Yoruichi said, tearing away the top half of her outfit, leaving a black skin tight cloth that covered only her front, and left most of sides , and back exposed.

"Good idea, Lady Yoruichi" Soifon replied ,tearing away her sleeves and taking off her captain's jacket, to real an altered form of a Soul Reaper's Shihakusho. It barely covered her front, and also showed off the sides of her breasts, and most of her bare back as well, just like Yoruichi's current outfit did.

Soifon grinned and raced forward, wordlessly at Yoruichi. She punched at her with her left fist, while trying to stab her with her released Zanpaktou on the other hand. Yoruichi dodged both, but then Soifon grabbed her arm pull forward , and into the path of her blade, effectively stabbing her in her shoulder. Yoruichi grunted with pain , and pulled the blade out of her shoulder. She then retaliated by pushing both of Soifon's arms down and delivering a spinning roundhouse kick to the side of her head. This sent Her flying back a ways, but she managed to land on her feet, somehow, none the less.

"Not bad, Soifon, using your Spiritual Pressure to lessen the blow, not bad at all" Yoruichi said, grinning. "Though your not the first to use it, nor are you the best at it. That title is reserved for me, and my student/ friend , Ichigo"

"Ichigo, huh? One of the Ryoka?" Soifon asked, genuinely interested. "Wait.. He wouldn't be the orange haired one, would he?"

"He might, why ?, is my little bee developing feeling's for my pupil?" Yoruichi asked, getting into a defensive stance. " You certainly would be the first girl I've seen around him fall for him, and you probably wouldn't be the last"

Soifon's checks turned slightly red, before she yelled " Fall for him? , I've never even met him, only seen him when he rescued Rukia Kuchiki from the Sokyoku"

"Oh? I'm sure it's different then the crush you developed on Kisuke, so long ago" Yoruichi said, rushing forward and trading blow after blow with her, resulting in her slicing into her check with Suzumebachi, and leaving another butterfly shaped mark.

"I told you back then, and I'll tell you now, I never had a crush on that pathetic man.. !" Soifon yelled, punching with her right ,then left hand, before trying to slam her knee upward into Yoruichi, who moved back, and slammed her elbow into Soifon's stomach.

Soifon spit out a tiny amount of blood and wiped her mouth before holding her stomach and saying " This is pointless.. Both of us are obviously quite skilled in hand to hand combat."

"At this rate, a battle could go on forever… So, I suggest you submit now, and I'll make sure the higher ups go easy on you and your… friends" Soifon replied, crossing her arms, and looking as serious as possible.

Yoruichi looked at her in confusion for a moment before snickering , and then going into a full blown laughed that had her holding her sides. "Oh you sounded so serious, I almost thought you were. But I see you finally developed a sense of humor, it just took you a hundred years, or so!"

Soifon's face grew red from embarrassment, and anger. " I wasn't joking.. And I do so have a sense of humor!" Soifon said, pouting. " It just that your's is so unusual, that I couldn't related with it"

"Right, I'm sure that's what it was, my little bee." Yoruichi said, still laughing a little, as she sat down, and crossed her legs Indian style. " Well then, I refuse to surrender, I know that you won't,.. so it seems were at a bit of a impasse here, doesn't it?"

"So It seems… wait, why are you sitting on the ground?" Soifon asked, raising one eyebrow and blinking in confusion.

"It's like you said, we might end up at a stall mate in a battle, so I've not to fight and take a little break" Yoruichi said stretching. " So you wanna go get some tea, or something"

Soifon's face vaulted, and she thought to herself, _What the hell is wrong with Lady Yoruichi here? Ending a fight, and asking her enemy to have tea with her? This must be the fault of that lazy assed Kisuke, he must have rubbed off on her somehow._

Soifon sighed, heavily before crossing her arms "What makes you think I've forgiving you for leaving me yet? Even if I agree to a cease in fighting, I" still have no reason to forgive you " Soifon said, frowning.

"fine… I guess I have no choice but to tell you reason I left,…" Yoruichi said, pulling out a couple of tea thermoses from seemingly nowhere. " Have a seat, and promise me you wont tell anyone about this, for right now"

Soifon was going to ask where Yoruichi kept the thermoses at, but ignored it and agreed to sit, none the less. She then plopped herself down on the ground in front of her. "Ok,.. Start talking, .. And it better be good, .. Or else"

Yoruichi started pouring out tea for them and said "Well ,it all started about a hundred and ten years ago…."

As Yoruichi and Soifon were talking we head back to the living quarters of Central 46, to Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu had just learned the truth about Sosuke Aizen .

"I'm ready , Captain Unohana" Isane said,, as she finished drawing the symbols down her arms.

"Then begin, Isane" Captain, Unohana said, nodding "Make sure you relay, just as I've told you"

"Right!" Isane said, drawing the symbols on the ground. " Hearts of the south, eyes of the north, fingertips of the west, heels of t he east, gather holding the winds, scatter, sweeping the rains, Bakudo 58, Kakushitsuijaku"

"She was silent as she looked at the blue glowing circle she had drawn, for a moment before speaking again. " 31... 64...83...97. I got the coordinates of where Aizen went… oh, no, it's Sokyoku hill !"

"I see.. Then begin relaying the information, and make sure to include the Ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends as well." Captain Unohana said, walking away. " I must go and check on Captain Hitsugaya's injuries, back at the barracks."

"Right,.." Isane used Bakudo, number 77, Tenteikura to find and broadcast to everyone within the Seireitei " Attention, all Captains, lieutenants, as well as Ichigo and his fellow Ryoka, This Isane, Kotetsu, the Lieutenant of Squad 4, myself and my Captain, have learned some very disturbing information about Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tosen. Please listen carefully, and understand, that what I'm about to tell you, is completely true"

Elsewhere , within the Seireitei, everyone had slightly different reactions, but all of them were equally shocked, and angry.

"Captain Aizen… Is.. Is this true!" Renji asked, shocked at what he had just heard.

"Wait, this is that Aizen guy, the captain who's behind all of this?" Ichigo asked," And furthermore, why are you back here with Rukia, I told you get her away from here, Renji!"

"Moron, I didn't bring us here, this Captain, Captain Tosen, did" Renji yelled back, " Besides, I think we more important matters to deal with right now!"

"Indeed you do, and it's a pleasure to meet the leader of Urahara's little group in person, Ichigo was it?" Sosuke said, smiling before his eyes widened, ever so slightly, before he said " And you ….. Lieutenant Sarugaki…, I assumed you and your friends died a long time ago, I guess Urahara found a way to help you somehow."

Hiyori sneered, and spit out his name like it was venom "Aizen!.. I've been waiting to see you again, for almost a hundred years now!"

"Hiyori, you know him?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"Unfortunately, and I already knew the kind of scum he was ,long before that announcement from Isane" Hiyori said, not talking her piercing eyes off of Aizen " He was insane as a Lieutenant and probably no better off now"

"Such sweet words, form a young lady, now then Renji, I given you more then enough time to decide, " Aizen said, turning his eyes toward him. "So, will you give me Rukia, or will I have to take her from you?"

"How about you back off , bookworm man.. Whatever your name was" ?Ichigo said, gripping his still sword that was still in Bankai form." If you want Rukia, then you'll have to go through me, and Renji here!"

"And me as well" Said Hiyori, unsheathing her sword, " I've waited a long time for an opportunity like this to come along, and I'm sure as hell as not to pass it up"

"I wish you'd tell me what your personal grudge against his is all about, it goes beyond hating him for being after Rukia here" Ichigo, said, in a surprisingly perceptive way.

"You don't know? Perhaps I should tell him about the great experiment of mine and how you and your friends made such excellent test subjects." Aizen said calmly, smiling again.

"Test subjects?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide. "What.. What us he talking about?"

Hiyori clenched her teeth, but didn't speak.

"I think I will, especially since it was everything to do with what's happening right now" said Aizen, as he stabbed his sword into the ground beside himself. And spoke again. " I won't say everything, for that would take too long, so I'll give a condense form of the story"

It started about a hundred and 10 years ago, when I realized I would never obtain true power as a mere Soul Reaper. I needed to find a way to gain more, and after a lot of searching I realized that If I had the powers of Soul Reaper AND a hollow combined, I would become truly powerful, and it would help me on my way to reach to the top as … as a king" Aizan said , folding his hands behind his back and looking into the sky. " My first experiments were failures, and only resulted in completely destroying a soul, my other experiment , to create a hollow that could living inside a Soul Reaper , was also a complete mess, and only resulted in the deaths of the Lieutenant of Squad 13, and his wife."

"I bet Rukia has a much more,.. Intimate perspective of that event, however. After all, Kaien Shiba was you the Lieutenant and superior in your squad and the one you had to stop by killing" Aizen said, looking at her and grinning evilly. "Now then, I'm getting ahead of myself, that experiment didn't happen for quite some time later.. Now where was I?…"

Rukia looked paled and her eyes were wide , so too was Kukaku Shiba, though she also gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists in anger.

"Now then, I needed some Soul Reapers, highly ranked ones, Lieutenants and Captains to test my experiment I had in mind ,that was my first success. I realized, all I needed to do was to was shatter the boundaries and give a Soul Reaper the powers of a hollow." He said, still very calm, as he always seemed to be.

_Shatter the boundaries between Soul Reapers and Hollows?.. That just like ..me and Hiyori, and the other Vizards too!.. _Ichigo though in surprise, he was never told how the others got there powers exactly, the question was always evaded, when ever he had asked, though.

"Now then, even though they were chosen at random, my test subjects needed to be high ranking Soul Reapers, like I said, so I killed off a number of low rank ones, to get the attention of the higher ups, and prompt an investigation of the forest area." Aizen said, pausing for a moment, as if remembering, fondly. " And so, The Captain of Squad 9, Kensei Muguruma and a number of his squad members, including Tosen here, were went to investigate, and all of them, minus the Captain and Lieutenant ,were attack and killed off by Tosen, by my order. Soon after a number of Lieutenants and Captains were chosen, sent to the forest area to investigate the lost of Spiritual Pressure from these members, and they the y all became my test subject, allowing my to witness my creations for the first time and might I say, it was quite enjoyable."

"You bastard!" Ichigo growled, along with Renji, gritted his teeth in agreement. " But what does this have to do with Rukia?"

"Ah yes, It seems you don't actually no the reason you were sent to rescue Rukia from me, do you, Young Ichigo?" Aizen asked, looking over at the angry young man.

"It doesn't matter,… now roar, Zabimaru!" Renji yelled, putting Rukia Down, by Ichigo and swinging his Zanpaktou forward at Aizen.

"Renji Wait!" Ichigo yelled, trying to stop him. " Don't be reckless!"

"You should listen to your friend here, Lieutenant Abarai" Said, Aizen, just before he caught the tip of the blade or Renji's released sword, with his bare hand. " This recklessness, is exactly the reason I transferred you to another squad, you were a loose cannon, not at all like Momo, who followed me so blindly, she just couldn't liver with out me, which is the reason I killed her earlier."

With that, he drew out his Zanpaktou and swung it once, shattering the blade and it's metal ,rope-like pieces that held it together and struck Renji, with a devastating wound at the same time.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled, crouch down beside a standing Ichigo.

"Don't worry, as long as he stays still, he'll live" Aizen said, sheathing his sword. "Now then, let's see… oh ,yes you wanted a explanation of how Rukia fit's in to my plans, but before I say, to need you to hand over miss Kuchiki to me."

"Over my dead body, Aizen," Renji said, laying on the ground, covering blood. He tried to stand up ,and only managed to rise to his knee.

"Same here!" Ichigo agree, angrily.

"Though I doubt your friends will like this, If that's what need to be done, so be it" Aizen replied, smiling down, at Renji. He pulled out his sword and disappeared and reappeared so quickly, you couldn't have even blinked fast enough to see him move.

When he reappeared, Rukia, Hiyori, Orihime, Kukaku, Chad, and Yachiru were all knocked to the ground hard, while Ichigo and Renji fell forward in a spray of blood.

"Damn…." Ichigo said, deeply in pain.

"So your still alive, good then you can continue listening to me, Ichigo, Renji, though I'd refrain from moving much" Aizen said as he grabbed Rukia by her imprisonment collar and dragged her up and to the side. " Now, your mission is over with, Ichigo."

"Mission?…" Ichigo asked, groaning. "What mission?"

"Why, your mission , which had you invading at the Rukon District, of course" Aizen replied. "And most of what happened till now. Though I must admit, much of what occurred was quite unexpected., such as you getting assistance form the Lieutenant's of Squad's 4 and 12."

"Wait, how did you know we would come here, and specifically in the Rukon area?" Ichigo asked, breathing hard, in pain.

"It's Kisuke Urahara's area, where else where you have come through, as his subordinates" Aizen asked, somewhat surprised. "Didn't he order you to rescue Rukia for him?"

"From that look on your face, I say you don't know anything." Aizen said, pulling Rukia to her feet. "Well then, as I said, I wanted to gain true power, through creating a Soul Reaper and Hollow hybrid, but even my best test, was incomplete. That was, until Urahara created a devise ,he called, the Hogyoku. It was capable of dissolving the barriers between a hollow and Soul Reaper, just like what I needed."

"Obviously , it's quite dangerous, so he tried to destroy it and failed. So he put a barrier around it and hid it inside a soul." Aizen said, looking down at Rukia, who he was holding onto. "The place he hid it? It was inside the soul, of miss Kuchiki here"

"Unfortunately, by the time I learned of this, I also discover your were watched over, By Ichigo Kurosaki, little Hiyori here, and Urahara himself." Aizen said, clearing his throat. " Now I might have been able to hypnotize Ichigo with my sword, Urahara would is no doubt immune to it's effects, and now I discover that Hiyori was also there, there was no chance to retrieve the Hogyoku without being noticed, so I made other arrangements. I was intent on capturing her, and bringing her back here, but due to Urahara's special Gigai , that took far longer then it should have. The reason for this? It was a special Gigai that was untraceable, initially created for the Stealth force, and Urahara used it on Rukia."

"But, it has unfortunate side effects. Over time a Soul Reaper who uses it, will lose there powers.. And eventually become nothing more, then a mere human being." Aizen finished ." luckily for you, I discovered this, and your whereabouts in the town of Karakura, and…"

Suddenly a huge boulder behind him was cut in two and standing in the clearing dust created by this ,…. Was the last person Ichigo had expect to see, Kenpachi Zaraki, the suppose to be dead, Captain of Squad 11. "Hey Aizen I've got a bit of a bone to pick with you, like the ones some stray dogs are going to pick over, after I rip your skeleton out of you, while your still alive!"

"Well, Captain Zaraki, what a pleasure to see you up and about, I guess you were put under a strong enough sleeping Kido" Aizen said, looking over at Tosen .

Tosen, bowed his head, " My apologies, it appears he is far stronger then I thought."

"It's fine Kaname , not your fault" Aizen replied, looking aback at Kenpachi

"So knocking me out wasn't enough, you had to injure my Lieutenant as well?" Kenpachi said, grinning as he looked over at the semi-conscious girl.. "Good, that just means more pain for you"

"Wait how are you still alive.. I killed you" Ichigo asked looking over at Kenpachi.

"So you're the one I never got the chance to fight. Don't worry, you and I can have a fun little match later, after you heal," Kenpachi said, raising his sword, " Now then Aizen, you and I are going to have a little fun ,right now"

"Unlikely," Replied Aizen, suddenly standing behind him, while still standing in front of him at the same time.

"What the hell?" Kenpachi asked, before the image in front began to dissolve.

Before he could turn around all the way , he heard Aizen say " Hado 91,Senju Koten Taiho"

Ten disks of pink energy appear in the sky above and shot down, striking Kenpachi and resulting in a massive explosion. After a moment Kenpachi was visible again, with a torn Shihakusho ,and lots of cuts and burns. "Damn" was all he said, before falling face first onto the ground.

"My ,my, that looked quite painful, Captain Aizen" Said, Gin, grinning. "You truly are a cruel man."

"Yes, well, he did interrupt me" Aizen said to him calmly." now., as I was saying, I immediately, killed Central 46, took over it's operations, and gave orders for Rukia to be captured. I had your damaging Gigai, destroyed, and had you sentenced to death by Sokyoku, in order to dissolve your soul around the Hogyoku"

"But now, that option is no longer viable. That being said, I researched a secondary means of obtaining the Hogyoku from within a person's soul, and luckily for you miss Kuchiki, it's completely harmless." Aizen said , activating a strange procedure that had green giant claws shoot up out of the ground around him and Rukia, and gave him a strange green arm as well." Now I simply do this, it doesn't hurt, though it may feel somewhat weird to you."

With that he lifted her up and plunged his green hand into her chest, ,pulling out a small swirling orb, held inside a strange diamond like shell. "I see, so it creates a space around the body and soul allowing it to be removed harmlessly, Urahara is truly a genius. Had I known it was this easy, I would have done this method from the beginning."

"Now then I really should kill you and your friends here, since your no longer of any use to me, but should I ?.. hmm, your not any threat anymore, I could let you live…" Aizen though carefully. "However, Ichigo and Hiyori are certainly threats to me and my plans, and I must kill them . Tosen, please kill the boy and his little girlfriend"

Tosen didn't do as ordered however, and flash stepped behind Gin. "Tosen what do you think your doing?" Aizen, asked genuinely surprised at this.

"What I have been waiting to do for some time, Sosuke Aizen. " Tosen replied, in a nasty tone as he placed his sword up against Gin's neck. "I 'm serving justice, .. to you and Gin Ichimaru."

Then other Soul Reaper appeared on the hill, including Yoruichi, and Soifon and both had swords pointing at Aizen's neck, Captain Ukitake, who held his sword against Gin's front, as well as Captains Byakuya, Kyoraku, Komamura, Yamamoto and several Lieutenants as well.

"You are surrounded, Aizen, I suggest you give up while you have a chance," Captain Yamamoto said, sternly. And now that we heard everything you said, about creating the Vizards and of your current plans as well, you are going away forever, Aizen"

"Really?, is that what you think?" Aizen asked grinning. "I'm afraid it's time for me and Gin to leave."

Yamamoto's eyes went wide " Everyone, back away from Gin and Aizen, now !"

A large tear in the sky formed and a number of Menos appeared, shooting down square beams of energy at Aizen and Gin that surrounded them as Tosen, Ukitake, Yoruichi and Soifon quickly jumped backed away.

"What's going on?" Asked, Lieutenant Hisagi.

"Those are called Negation, it is a technique that Meno's use to retrieve their fellow Meno's" Captain Tosen said, "It is impossible to enter it , once cast."

"Farewell, my former comrades, I have a date with destiny. Or more specifically , one to ascend to the top, as ruler of all." Aizen said, " You know, I must admit, young Kurosaki ,there, if he doesn't bleed t death, will be a very interesting opponent in the future."

"Bleed to death?…" Hiyori asked trying to get up and move toward Ichigo, who was uncurious now. "Ichigo? … Ichigo?"

Hiyori started crying and said " It's just like you, Ichigo, I final figure out my feelings of love for you, and you have to go and.. And -"

"Don't worry, He will be fine, Hiyori" Replied Captain Unohana, who appeared beside her and nelt down to start healing Ichigo, while Isane began treating Renji.

Other Squad 4 member appeared to heal Captain Zaraki moments later.

"This was quite the mess, huh, old man Yamamoto?" Asked Captain Kyoraku. "Still it means we were wrong about a lot of things, including Urahara and these Ryoka"

"Indeed, but these are no longer Ryoka ,they are the saviors of the Soul Society," Yamamoto replied to his former student. "And they must be honored and thanked greatly"

"Anything in mind?" Kyoraku asked, curiously.

"Actually, yes I do" He said back to him before walking off with his lieutenant. "I'll trust you and Jushiro to handle matters here"

"Sure thing, master" Ukitake said, walking up next to Kyoraku. " Most of our thanks go to Ichigo I believe."

"Yeah He certainly is an interesting kid," Kyoraku replied in agreement "I can't wait to see what he does next"

"I couldn't agree more, my friend" Ukitake said smiling at Ichigo while Unohana healed him and Hiyori cried next to him. "I couldn't agree more"

END OF CHAPTER 23

Again, as stated at the top of the page, my apologies for taking so long to add this chapter, I've been busy and didn't have the time before now. I promise to have the next chapter up ASAP. So please read, review and enjoy. Bye till then.


	24. Chapter 24

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 24

It was the next day inside the Seireitei after Aizen had shown his true colors. Much had happened to it's inhabitants, and it's guests. Ichigo was resting in the Squad 4 barracks, and Byakuya had told him about his wife, Hisana, and how he was almost jealous in a way of how Ichigo could fight against whatever rules he disagreed with. Of course Ichigo being Ichigo, he mad Byakuya mad my gloating on how he was jealous of him, which led to Byakuya storming out after mumbling come choice swear words, that even Ichigo had never heard before. He had also had many visits from his friends who cam with him to the Soul Society and those he had made along the way.

But for Ichigo, the best thing happened several hours after Byakuya had left, while he was sleeping, or mostly asleep anyway. Hiyori walking to Ichigo's room, and was glad he was a sleep, _this is going be hard enough as it is, the last thing I need to for him to be awake right now_, she thought as she closed the door. She walked over slowly to Ichigo's bed and gulped as reached it. _Damn.. This is harder then I thought, but I have to do it now, before I lose my nerve.. _Hiyori thought to herself as she took a deep breath and started.

" Ichigo, I know your asleep and probably can't hear me at the moment, but… but I need to tell you something." Hiyori said, with her eyes closed. " I've been by your side now for quite some time, though it's actually a short time if you think about it. Anyways, I've… I've felt a certain fondness for you, that I couldn't explain at first. Over time that fondness has grew to affection, and now…. Now I find myself, well…"

She took a deep breath and decided to spit it out. " Listen up dumbass, I, Hiyori Sarugaki am In love with an idiotic best friend of mine, and that friend is you Ichigo Kurosaki, I love you, so deal with it!"

She felt better, much better and actually smiled and decide to seal her affection , with a small kiss. True it would be a one sided one, but she wanted to none the less, and needed to do it before she fainted or something, and considering how hot her face felt, she was sure that would be anytime. She closed her eyes, leaned over him and got her face up close to his, and felt his warm breath. She felt her self go even redder in the face, and needed to do it quickly, but she was very nervous and was having second thoughts, when all of a sudden she heard a voice say " Well if you can't make up your mind ,I make it for you" Her eyes shot open and saw Ichigo smiling at her. He reached up and pulled her down , locking lips with her at last. When she finally pulled a way, she face would have mad a tomato jealous, and she smiled at him before promptly fainting, on top of him.

Ichigo smiled at the girl he knew was pretty much his girlfriend now, and gently smoothed his hand over her hair. He looked at her as he sat up and got out of bed, and begin to get dressed in his Shihakusho. He placed her all the way on the bed and covered her up, as it was obvious she hadn't gotten much sleep in a while. He looked and thought to himself, _she certainly is something…. Something crazy.. And something, wonderful…_

It wasn't long before Hiyori woke up and remembered what had happened with Ichigo. She shot up and looked over at Ichigo, who was sitting on a nearby chair. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Hey there my little snaggletoothed best friend of mine, did you have a good rest?" Ichigo asked, standing up . "Or was it only kind of good compared to our kiss from before? Personally I though it just as good and amusing as our first in the maintenance tunnels."

She blushed but nodded. "Yeah ..I .. I remember that"

"So, I thought you and I should have a talk about … about us" Ichigo said sitting on the edge of the bed she was sitting up in. "About what you and I are now, which is obviously beyond friends, and even best friends, now"

Hiyori blushed again and smiled with her one pointy tooth poking out. She then threw off the covers and scooted over to sit next to him ."Yeah, I think your right, Strawberry, we need to talk…"

While Ichigo and Hiyori were talking A captain's meeting of all the remaining Captains, minus Captain's Hitsugaya, and Zaraki who were recovering in the medical section of the Squad 4 barracks, and Kaname Tosen, who was in custody for the time being.

Captain Yamamoto thumped his cane onto the hard wooden floor to get everyone's attention. " This meeting will come to order"

"As you know much has happened in a very short amount of time, though much has also happened in the past one hundred and ten years that is involved with current events as well." Yamamoto said, looking around at the Captains present. " The first order of business to deal with the status of former Captain Kaname Tosen."

"Based on our information, and a confession from Tosen himself, he killed several members of squad 9 back when Kensei Muguruma was Captain of that squad" Said Captain Kurotsuchi. " Not to mention the death of dozens of other souls in the Rukon District. It should be quite clear that he needs to be imprisoned or put to death for his crimes. The quicker, the better"

"Maybe he do some of those things, but there's no proof he participated in all of those killings, personally" Captain Kyoraku said, lifting his hat up slightly. "Besides, he helped out in several ways, including his attempt to capture Ichimaru. Doesn't that account for something?"

"Perhaps, but the fact remains, he willingly assisted Sosuke Aizen in his plans and this can not be ignored." Yamamoto replied, while rubbing his beard. " However, do to his help earlier, and his sparing of the life of Lieutenant Matsumoto, I believe he should be kept alive and imprisoned for now. Normally such a decision would be made by Central 46, but since Aizen and Ichimaru liked them all, it falls to make to decide things like this. In any case this is my final decision on that particular subject, since we have other things to discuss still"

"Yes such as Rukia" Captain Ukitake said, softly. " I trust her charges are being dropped?"

"Hmm? Yes, yes of course, Jushiro." Replied Yamamoto, looking at him. " She was only in trouble because of Aizen manipulating are laws, and even the reprimand for giving up her powers to a human temporarily will be ignored due to said human's action of helping us against are enemy"

"Now then, speaking of Ichigo Kurosaki, I have sent a hell butterfly to Captain Unohana to have him come here to meet with us, he should be here any time now" Yamamoto said, looking at the doors, waiting for Ichigo to arrive. "Until then, we will discuss the situation with squad's 10, 9 and 3. Lieutenant's Kira and Hisagi will take over their squads semi-permanently , while Rangiku Matsumoto will take over her Squad till Captain Hitsugaya recovers fully. Now as for-"

"Yo, you call old man?" Said a rough young voice." Well were here"

They all looked ahead and saw Ichigo and Hiyori, open the doors all the way and walk in holing hands. "So, what's this all about, anyway?" Hiyori asked, in a irritated voice. "We were….busy"

A few of the Captain's snickered when she and Ichigo blushed slightly . Even Captain Yamamoto gave a small grin. _Ahh to be young , and no doubt, in love, hehehe.. _He though to himself ,before acknowledging them.

"Ah ,yes, thank you for joining us here, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Former Lieutenant Hiyori Sarugaki, we've been waiting for you to arrive" Captain Yamamoto replied, ushering them forward. " Now, I'll cut right the point, we have two important pieces of information to discuss with you two. First all charges against former Captain Urahara, former Captain Yoruichi, and Former Kido Corps. Commander Tessai, will be dropped at once, all of you who call yourself's " Vizards" will be allowed back into the Soul Society with no consequences due to your state as Soul Reaper/ Hollow Hybrids."

Hiyori was speechless, and wide-eyed at this news and couldn't say anything at the moment besides and stuttered out thank you.

"Yes now then as for are second piece of news,…" Yamamoto said standing up out of his chair " Ichigo Kurosaki, even with two strong and able Lieutenants filling in for squads 3 and 9, we are still without both a Captain and A lieutenant for Squad 5. After you have demonstrated your abilities, power, and commitment to doing the right thing, no matter the obstacle, I have a request to make of you"

He walked up to Ichigo and knelt down on one knee, which had some of the Captain widen their eyes at, and bowed his head slightly. " Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper, will you take on the Responsibilities as Captain of Squad 5, from now on?"

Now it was Ichigo's turn to become speechless. He had gone from invader to hero and potential leader of a squad of Soul Reapers in such a short manner, it unbelievable to him. "Uh I .. I'm not sure how to .. answer …" Ichigo replied, staring down at the head Captain " How long do I have to decide?"

"It will be several days before your friends go back to the real world, so you will have till then to decide this" Yamamoto replied, standing up , his back, and knees creaking and popping as he did. "Such an important decision should be considered carefully afterall. Take your time, though I will need your response by the pre-mentioned time, I stated."

"Until then, I understand you are staying with Kukaku Shiba, so I would appreciate you delivering these documents to her, they are rather important after all" Yamamoto continued.

"Uh, yeah sure .." Ichigo said, regaining his composure "What are they anyway?"

"Since I'm certain your close to her, she will no doubt tell you that herself" He replied to Ichigo.

"Uh you could say that, she did adopt him as her unofficial little brother before we first came inside the Soul Society" Hiyori replied for Ichigo.

"Well then it should impact you as well it seems, so I suggest you hurry to Kukaku's if you want to find out what they say" the head Captain replied." For now, everyone is dismissed, and when you decide, inform Kukaku or Yoruichi so they can relay the answer to me, dismissed!"

With that Ichigo, flung open the door. scooped up Hiyori, bridal style, and flash-stepped away so fast you could almost see a cloud of dust his shape float there for a split second or two.

"I don't know about you, Jushiro, but I think things in the Soul Society have gotten a lot more interesting with that Ichigo kid around" Captain Kyoraku said, putting hand on his friends shoulder.

"Yes, I do believe your right, Shunsui" Ukitake replied, " I just hope Ichigo agrees to our request"

" Don't worry, I have a good feeling he will" Kyoraku said, as they walked out the doors, toward their respected squad barracks. "And then things will really get interesting!"

"Hey, Renji!" Ichigo yelled. " Have you seen Rukia around ?"

Ichigo had been walking hand in hand with Hiyori around the Seireitei trying to find his other midget friend, Rukia for quite some time.

Renji was eating some Ramen, when he heard Ichigo yell to him. He turned around and slurped up the noodles hanging out of his mouth, before answering him.

"Not since this morning, Ichigo" Renji replied, turning around of the bench he was sitting on. "So are you out causing.. Hey what's with the hand holding, are two a couple now?… How cute. The big bad substitute Soul Reaper is now been bagged by a girl, aren't you the lucky one, Romeo."

Renji Started laughing when Ichigo developed a small blush on his face, that is until Hiyori slammed her heel of her wooden sandals she was wearing into his shin. He yelled in pain " Ouch! You little bitch, what the hell! …And since when do you not wear flip flops!" Renji roared, holding his very sore shin in his hands.

Hiyori grinned, evilly and said " Since my old ones got damaged the other day, and I got these to wear for now. ..Then again, I like these better, they do more damage when you hit someone with them!"

Ichigo didn't even seem to care and said "Well since he hasn't seen her, lets go look elsewhere for Rukia."

"Sure" Hiyori said , sliding her hand into his.

"Hey, asshole, I shouldn't help you but, I think Rukia mentioned something about visiting Kukaku Shiba or something, when I saw her this morning, you might try there" Renji said, still holing his shin.

"My big sis? Ok Thanks. Hiyori , jump on, well take the express there to sis's house" Ichigo said, crouching down.

She gladly jumped on and even nuzzled her face into his shoulder, making him blush "Cu..Cut it out, Hiyori, since when are you this affectionate anyway?" Ichigo said, embarrassed by it.

"Oh shut up, just because I'm not feminine normally, doesn't mean I can be affectionate to the dumbass I love" She replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "Now hurry up, and lets move"

"Uh yeah, right" Ichigo said, looking forward.

With that they disappeared in a incredibly fast flash-step heading towards Kukaku's place. Leaving Renji to his black and blue shin and his ramen. "Big sister? Man Ichigo really knows how pile on the weirdness… now back to my Ramen"

Mean while Ichigo and Hiyori made it to Kukaku's a few minutes later, and Found her talking with Rukia.

"Well there's the midget, I've been looking for you all over." Said Ichigo, letting Hiyori off his back.

"Oh, Ichigo, I see your all healed up, I'm glad to it" Rukia replied with a small smile.

"Hey, there little brother, glad to see your up and about!" Kukaku said, putting her arm round his should and pulling him close to her " That being said, if you ever do anything as reckless as trying to take on someone more powerful then you, without enough help, ever again, your big sister, wont be so nice to you, got it!"

She squeezed his shoulder painfully, till he grunted "Yeah.. Yeah I got it, never again promise!" He said, nervously and quickly to her.

"Good, now then what brings you here, just looking for Rukia?" Kukaku asked, letting go of him and folding her arms. ( for those who don't remember, in my story she wears a fully working metal prosthetic arm).

"Pretty much,.. I guess" Ichigo replied, looking a over at Rukia. "Their opening the door to our home in a few days, so I though I should tell so you, since you haven't got your powers fully back yet"

"Yeah about that, I've.. I've decide to stay, at least for now, Ichigo" Rukia replied ,after a minute.

"I see,… I though you might" Ichigo said, smiling at her. "You might not be the only one staying , though"

"Huh?, what so you mean ?" Rukia asked, raising one eyebrow in confusion." Who else is staying here?"

"well you see,…." Ichigo started, before getting cut off by Hiyori , who stood next to him.

"Old man Yamamoto, asked Ichigo to stay here, and become the Captain of Squad 3" Hiyori said, grinning, as she folded her arms.

"What, are you serious!" Rukia exclaimed ,loudly " He really asked that? When?, What did you say?, did you accept?"

"Sheezus Rukia, talk my ear off why don't ya!" Ichigo said, holding his ears.

" Well, did say you would or not, little brother?" Kukaku asked, excitedly, holding her hands on both of his shoulders. "Tell us, tell us!"

"Well the head Captain told me to think about it, and ..I haven't decide yet" He finally replied, only to smacked it the back of the head by both Kukaku and Rukia at the same time.

"Hey, what the hell?" He snarled out." Why'd you both hit me?"

"I hit you because it's an incredible opportunity for any Soul Reaper, you should do it , moron!" Kukaku stated.

"That right, the same for me, Ichigo!" Rukia, said, confidently. "Especially since your only a substitute"

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in my face why don't ya!" Ichigo said, sighing. "I intent to think about it carefully, before I give my response to the old man"

"Well make it fast, Ichigo, anyways I should get back to my squad" Rukia Said, walking over and saying good bye to Kukaku.

"Yeah well, me and Hiyori are probably going to stay here for now." Ichigo said. "That is, if it's alright, sis?"

"Sure it is, you're my little brother now, feel free to stay here for as long as you need." Kukaku said, grinning. "As long as you help out with chores and crap, that is"

"Yeah ,sure, I guess" Ichigo, said, scratching his hair. "I do those things at home, so it's fine "

Oh, alright, I guess I see you later Ichigo" Rukia, said, walking off. "By the way, do you know where the Squad 13 barracks are at?"

" Yeah right, I only got to where I was going at all because Ikkaku pointed me in the eight direction and Isane showed me the rest of the way, to the execution hill place" Ichigo said, crossing his arms.

"We'll I need to get moving , so just ask miss Kukaku or Renji" Rukia said walking away " When you find out where my squad barracks are at, come visit me, strawberry. You can catch me up on your adventures through the Seireitei!"

She walked off and a minute later Hiyori kicked Ichigo in his leg.

"What was that for, Hiyori" He asked looking down at her, and saw her frowning. He knelt down to eye level with her and said, "What's the matter, sunshine?"

" What about me?" Hiyori pouted. "Was I just a extra along for the ride or something, dumbass?"

He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders . " Of course not You were probably the biggest help to me, snaggletooth" Ichigo said, pulling her against him and resting his head on top of her head.

"Sorry, about that Ichigo" she said wrapping her arms around him.

"Get a room you two!" Kukaku said, giving a cat call. "You two going out or something?"

Both of them blushed and nodded, as Ichigo stood up.

"Really! That great!" Kukaku said. "You can have some dinner with me as we can talk all about it… As soon as Ganju gets back with that fish, that is"

" I'm sure he'll be back soon Kukaku, take it easy" Said a female voice.

They all looked and saw Yoruichi wearing a white robe. " I wondered where you two were, I should have guessed." She said grinning. "Though I'm surprised your not joined at the hip, if you know what I mean"

Both Ichigo and Hiyori sputtered and turned dark red, while Yoruichi and Kukaku laughed there asses off. After a minute or two, Ichigo asked what she was doing here and why she was wearing a robe

"This? It's something I picked up from my clan house. The made me part of the Shihoin clan again." She said proudly.

"You have a clan?" Ichigo asked, in surprise. "Are the head of it or something?"

"They are considering letting me lead it again, like I used to" She replied, grinning. "What about you, Kukaku?"

Kukaku looked puzzled. "Didn't you give her the paper work , Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked.

"Hmm?… Oh yeah that!" Ichigo said, pulling out a closed large vanilla office envelope and handing it to Kukaku. "I take it you know what it is, Yoruichi?"

She didn't answer and waited a moment till Kukaku read the enclosed papers, and let it sink in. Out of know where she grabbed Ichigo, Hiyori and Yoruichi into a bone crushing hug. "YES !"

""What is it, sis?" Ichigo said, struggling to breath as his face was shoved into her large chest.

She finally released them and said "Head Captain Yamamoto has emergency power for right now, and has returned the Shiba clan to it's nobility status as a great clan !"

"Congratulations, sis." Ichigo said, not entirely understanding what was happening, but happy for none the less.

Yoruichi and Hiyori also gave there congratulations and once Ganju got back, they went inside to eat and have some Saki to celebrate. Well. Kukaku, Ganju and Yoruichi did, Ichigo and Hiyori just stuck with tea. Ichigo didn't want another hangover, and Hiyori didn't want to wake in an embarrassing matter again. They all talked and drank till late into the night, when Kukaku, Ganju and Yoruichi passed out and Ichigo and Hiyori had Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko show them to some rooms to sleep, in which Hiyori fell asleep in very quickly while Ichigo thought about whether or not he would become a Captain. _It would be a lot of work.. But a lot of fun. I'd have to live here.. but I'd probably be able to visit everyone in the real world often. I guess It has lot of pros and cons.._ Ichigo thought as he to fell into a deep asleep.

The next day, Ichigo hung out with his friends, Orihime, Chad, Hiyori, Rukia, Ganju, and Renji. They talked, played the board game checkers, and they got a tour around the Seireitei from Renji and Ikkaku who met up with them along with a message from his Captain ,Kenpachi, that he wanted to have a "fun little spar" , which Ikkaku translated as a bloody fight to the near death, with Ichigo at some point soon. Ichigo just said, he'd think about it. They also made there way to the Squad 4 barracks so Ichigo and Hiyori could see if Isane could join them.

"Hey, Isane, long time no see" Ichigo said, as he and Hiyori walked into her Lieutenant's office, without knocking.

This somewhat startled her, but she wave at them none the less. "Hello Ichigo, Hiyori. What brings you here?" She asked, smiling.

"Well I wanted to know if you'd join us as we hall hung out today, before the gates to the world of the living are opened." Ichigo said, sitting down on the chair facing Isane's desk. "When ever I saw you when I was here, I wasn't allowed to leave my room, and you were still on duty."

Isane smiled warmly at him and putt down her paperwork. "That's true, but I'm sorry Ichigo, Hiyori, As much as I would enjoy being with.. I mean hanging out with, you and Hiyori, I'm still on duty, and can't just get out of it." She said, sadly. "There are still lot of injured people to deal with from the other day, I'm needed here, maybe,.. Maybe some other time."

"Can't you asked your Captain, Unohana for some time off?" Ichigo asked standing up. " She seems like a really nice person, I'm sure she would mind."

"Your right, I wouldn't mind, Ichigo" Said Captain Unohana, who as standing in the doorway." Of course you can go and spend some time with your friends, Isane."

"Captain!" Isane said, scattering her paper work off the desk. "That's ok, really, it wouldn't be fair, and there area lot of people who need my help and-"

"It's fine, we have it covered." Captain Unohana said, cutting her off. " If you wish, I can make it an order, so you feel better."

" Well I.. um ok, thank you ,Captain" Isane said, smiling slightly as she began to pick up the papers off the floor.

"Go, take her some where fun, she deal with this mess later, Ichigo" Unohana said, nudging him towards Isane.

"Yeah, sure, come on Isane, lets go" Ichigo said, as he took Isane by her shoulders and stood her up, causing her to drop the few papers she had in her hands. "Lets go, and meet up with the others outside, right Hiyori?"

"But-" Isane started, but was cut off by Ichigo.

"-No buts, let's go have some fun" Ichigo said as he and Hiyori pushed her out the door.

"Isane has a lot of trouble opening up to people outside of myself and her younger sister, Kiyone. This will be good for her" Captain Unohana said out loud to know one. "Now, I guess I better go do my own paper work , so I can do my rounds, and check on my patients, including the recovering Captain Hitsugaya."

Once outside Ichigo, Hiyori and Isane quickly met up with the others, who complained about them taking so long. Captain Zaraki had also shown up and wanted to fight Ichigo , but That was quickly stopped by his Lieutenant Yachiru, who asked, no demanded that her Kenny and her Ichi never, ever fight, or they'd face deadly consequences. Needless to say, they didn't fight, though Ichigo had to wonder, what Yachiru could do to make someone like Kenpachi nervous. Yachiru spent the rest of the time going back and forth between riding on Ichigo's back and Kenpachi' back. They all soon left to hang out some more. They spend the next several hours walking around the Seireitei, eating lunch, and taking till late in the day. Eventually, they split up, with Ikkaku, and Zaraki, and Yachiru heading back to their Squad 11 barracks and Renji to his Squad 6 barracks.. When Isane left, it had Rukia, and Orihime smiling nervously( at least on the outside, on the inside she imagined strangling Isane), Chad standing silently, Ichigo red in the face and Hiyori grinding her teeth, because Isane had giving Ichigo a small kiss on his cheek when she thanked him for a fun day, before leaving.

Ichigo had to hold Hiyori by her arms to stop her from going after Isane, and he stopped her quickly by whispering something into her ear. Neither Rukia, Orihime, Chad or Ganju knew what he had said to her, but it was obviously something interesting, because Hiyori developed a small blush on her face. After a while even Rukia had to leave, but settled with small hug for everyone, including Ichigo, before leaving, which had Hiyori only mildly irritated, instead of being pissed off like with Isane. The rest of them returned to Kukaku's house, ate dinner, and eventually went to sleep for tomorrow's return the world of the living. Ichigo on the other hand just lay there, with Hiyori sprawled a cross him drooling and snoring, while he came to a final decision about the request from the head Captain. He ran his hand through Hiyori let down hair, before closing his eyes and getting himself some sleep as well.

The next day ,bright and early, Ichigo and a half a sleep Hiyori, who was drinking a cup of cold green tea as they walked to and arrived to the Squad 1 Barracks. Ichigo had earlier, had Kukaku send word to the head Captain he had made his decision and was told to come in a hour or so. It was about a hour later when he and Hiyori arrived, and as usual Ichigo and Hiyori simply pushed the doors open and walked in, with out permission. They were met by Captain Ukitake, who was also on his way into the Captain's meeting.

"Well, now that all of our current Captains and our young guest is here, we can begin" Captain Yamamoto said, sitting his chair at the end of the room. " This is a rather easy and short meeting, so let's get right to the point, Ichigo Kurosaki, will you or wont you take the position as Captain of Squad 5?"

Ichigo looked around and felt his hand squeezed by Hiyori, who stood next to him. "I thought about it a lot over the past few days, about the upsides, like helping the Soul Society, seeing a lot of my knew friends here, and helping stop hollow harm people as well as the downsides like not seeing my little sisters or my idiot of a father again, or my friends from the world of the living." Ichigo said, looking at the Head Captain. " After a lot of thought , I've made my decision….. and my answer is…."

END OF CHAPTER 24

To be continued, next chapter…..

Ha! a cliff hanger!, I'm evil aren't I? Anyways please read, enjoy, and review. See ya in a few days or so with chapter 25. Peace till then!


	25. Chapter 25

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 25

Ichigo took a deep breath and said, "…My answer is- Ow! , hey cut it out Hiyori!"

Hiyori had jumped up and smacked in the back of his head. "Come on we haven't got all day, it's bad enough reader of this story had to wait a few days on a cliffhanger, so spit it out already!"

"Yeah I was about to .. And what do mean readers?" Ichigo asked, staring at her, as he rubbed the back of his head.

""Speak, moron!" Was her only response, as she crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah, well, I accept your invitation t become the Captain of Squad 5." Ichigo said, finally. He straightening up wait to be told what he was suppose to do now. "Sooo… now what?"

"This is excellent news, young .. No, Captain Kurosaki." Replied Captain Yamamoto. "Now, comes the matte of picking a lieutenant, have you thought about this?"

"Actually Me and Hiyori talked about this last night,." Ichigo said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "I managed to convince her to take that honor and be my Lieutenant, unless there are any problems with a Vizard being in this position?"

"Not at all, you yourself are a Vizard, are you not?" Yamamoto asked, looking at him. "We have already acknowledged those who became Vizards, did so against their wills, by Sosuke Aizen, we have no problems with this is of course and encourage new relation between our groups."

"Now then, you'll need instruction on etiquette as a official Soul Reaper, and as a Captain of one of the 13 court guard squads. The head Captain stated, folding his hands. Now the one who has been chosen to "teach you" or guide in the proper duties of a Soul Reaper Captain, will be the Captain of Squad 2, Soifon"

"What, me? Why me ,Head Captain?" Soifon asked, folding her arms. "I have far more important things to deal with then training some kid, no matter how skilled he may be"

"Be that as it may, Yoruichi herself requested you do this, and that she would be assisting you in this endeavor to train Captain Kurosaki" The head Captain said. " Now I Suggest you go visit your squad, they have been eager to learn who will replace their Captain and Lieutenant. Now then, this meeting is dismissed!"

Soifon tried to look annoyed by this news, but she was actually curious about Ichigo. She had been ever since Yoruichi had told her about him. He had become an intensely powerful Soul Reaper in such a short amount of a matter of time, it was true boggling and incredible. Not that she would tell him that , of course.

"Well, Captain Kurosaki, I need to get back to my squad for now, I'll meet up with you and Lady Yoruichi later" Soifon said, flash steeping out of sight.

"Um, any one know where Squad 5 barracks are?" Ichigo asked, before getting tapped on the shoulder from behind.

" Ichigo, my boy, the head Captain asked me to give this too you, it's your Captain's Haori" Captain Kyoraku said, handing the white jacket to Ichigo. " And here's your Lieutenants badge, Hiyori"

"Oh, thanks, Captain Kyoraku," Ichigo said, taking it and slipping it on.

"Well, how does it feel Ichigo?" Asked Captain Ukitake, walking over to them.

Ichigo smiled at him and said "Not bad but I don't like the long sleeves.. I got it" he said, and preceded to tear the sleeves oof, leaving them jagged and ripped. "That's better!"

"Somehow I'm not surprised, Ichigo" Said a voice from above. They all looked up on the roof and there sat Yoruichi." you've always been a rule breaker… though there's not actually a rule about modifying your coat or anything"

"And you up high, spying on people, that's right for you too" Hiyori says, saying what Ichigo was thinking. "What do you want, anyway?"

"We'll I'm here to congratulate you and Ichigo as we'll as tell you two, that I'm meet you and Soifon at the Cave where you got your training" She replied, jumping down. " Bye the way, good to see you again, Jushiro, Shunsui, how have you two been all this time?"

" Not bad at all " Captain Ukitake said, smiling . " Yourself?"

"Yeah same, Yoruichi, right as rain, considering what happened recently" Captain Kyoraku replied, lifting the edge of his hat up. " How's Kisuke too, by the way?

"Still hard to believe you and Mr. Hat and Clogs were Captain's once. And that Tessai was a leader of that Kido thing the old man mentioned" Ichigo said, folding his arms. " Hey, if you knew them.. Did you know Jinta and Ururu too?"

"Jinta?" Ukitake asked, confused.

"Ururu?" Kyoraku inquired a moment later. "Who are they?"

"Some friends of ours who work at the shop, I'm sure you'll meet them eventually, now come on I need to show you and Hiyori where the Squad 5 barracks are, Ichigo" Yoruichi said, pulling him along

"Uh sure, I'll see you two later, captains" Ichigo said, as he was dragged away.

"Sure thing, Ichigo and call me Jushiro, all my friends do" Ukitake replied, smiling.

"Same here, kid, call me Shunsui" Kyoraku said as well.

"well I guess we need to ge to our own barracks, huh? " Kyoraku asked his friend.

"Yes I suppose we do" Ukitake said, coughing slightly. "And perhaps a lay down is in order as well, too much excitement it seems. I'll see you later, Shunsui"

"Sure thing, take it easy, hope you feel better later" Kyoraku said, waking at his friend as he walked away. " Now then, I need to hide from my little Nanao, I just know she'll have paper work waiting for me if I go back the barracks"

"No need to go all the way back, sir." Said Nanao, standing behind him " I brought it with me!"

She then smacked him in the head with a huge stack of papers and dumped even more over top of him and he lay on the ground. " There, now you can do your paper work sir, I'll be back at my office, finishing my own"

" But who's gonna help me gather this up, and carry it back, my little Nanao? " He wined, " And for that matter , where were you keeping it?" he asked grinning.

She kicked him in his head and walked away. " Figure it out yourself, you old perv" She said, walking out of sight.

"Ouch! My little Nanao can be so cruel to me, .. " he said hold his head. " Oh well,, maybe I'll take a little nap right here… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

He was out like a light, with Nanao shaking her head as she watched this from afar. She stood to leave and before she flash stepped off, she looked back and said, " My captain is such an idiot, how Lisa put up with him before me, I'll never know"

Some ways away Ichigo ,Hiyori and Yoruichi were walking to the Squad 5 Barracks. " Hey, Yoruichi, how come you acted so strange when I mentioned Jinta and Ururu?" Ichigo asked, looking over at her.

"It's.. complicated Ichigo," Yoruichi said, looking forward. " Lets just say for now, that Jinta and Ururu , aren't exactly normal"

"Uh, ok.." Ichigo, replied as there came to a stop. "So this is it?"

"Yes, here it is, Squad 5, now you two go ahead and introduce yourselves, while I take care of something." Yoruichi said, prepare to jump away. " Oh and meet me and Soifon at the cave, tomorrow morning at about 6:30, Ichigo"

"Why so early?" He asked, looking at her along with Hiyori who seemed equally thrilled about the idea.

"Because, the faster you start the sooner it's over " She said turning around and hoping up on the ledge of the railing. "Besides, Aizen has the Hogyoku now, and there's no telling what it's capable of doing for him."

"We'll come on ,lets go in already!" Hiyori said, sliding the door open. "Get ready, there maybe some here who won't like you replacing Aizen and Lieutenant Hinamori , just be warned."

"Right, I'm ready " Ichigo replied, walking in with her, and found a single Squad 5 member carrying paper work in his hands.

"Hi there, I'm the new Captain of Squad 5, Ichigo Kurosaki" he said, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet ya"

The Soul Reaper looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Oh, the Ryoka Soul Reaper" He said, "I guess they'll let anyone become a Soul Reaper these days. I expect you want me to gather the other Squad members"

Ichigo felt a tick of anger as he gritted his teeth. " Yeah I do," he said walking up to the Soul Reaper and yanking him up to his eye level. " You know, you show me more respect then that, or I can make your life in Squad 5, a living hell…. Go, get everyone, now"

Ichigo let some of his Spiritual pressure leak out, and this made the rude Soul Reaper go wide eyed.. As soon as Ichigo dropped him, he darted out of the room like his life depended on it.

Hiyori gave out a deep laugh, reached up and playfully smacked him on his back.

"Not bad, and here I thought you were going to go soft on him, in order to impress old man Yamamoto." Hiyori said, grinning evilly. "I'm glad you didn't though, … I thought he was going to piss himself for a moment there, though."

"Yeah well I already impressed the head captain , that's what got me this position, why would I need to impress him further?" Ichigo asked, adjusting the strap to his Zanpaktou on his back. " By the way, who's to say that Soul Reaper didn't piss himself, he did run away awfully fast"

A moment later other members of the squad filed into the room and sat down on there knees. "Well, thanks for coming, first off , I'll introduce myself and my friend here." Ichigo said, looking around at them, as he stood in the front of the room. " My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and I'm the new Captain of this squad, to my right is Hiyori Sarugaki, my close friend and your new Lieutenant."

The other Soul Reaper whispered and talked amongst themselves for a moment until Hiyori yelled out " "Hey, pay attention, you sludge eating gunk eaters!"( I actually ripped that line from another cartoon, not a anime, though it did have anime - style artwork, 5 points to anyone who name the show, and the character).

"Hey, how can you replace Lieutenant Hinamori , who was so nice, with someone like you, blondie?" one the male Soul Reapers asked, in a mean tone.

"Oh crap!, bad move moron" Ichigo mumbled out and sure enough Hiyori dove on him, beating the crap out of him. After a few minutes Ichigo walked over and calmly grabbed Hiyori by the back of her robes and pulled her off, of the guy. " Enough, Hiyori, you proved your point , they get it no calling you that. You do all got that right?"

Everyone one around the room nodded and some even gulped, nervously.

"Good, ..you two," Ichigo said, pointing at two random Soul Reapers sitting in the front. "Drag him off to Squad 4 Barracks medical clinic, and give my apologies to Captain Unohana for this"

The two Soul Reapers immediately jumped up and grabbed up their fellow squad member. They raced out the doors and Ichigo turned back o the other Soul Reaper before him. He sighed and dropped himself to the floor on his butt, crossing his legs.

"Alright listen up, I'm not a hard person to get a long with unless you irritated me, or piss me off badly." Ichigo said. " I guess it's just gonna take a while for all of us to get along with and use to each other. For now we'll take thing slowly. I know despite the things Aizen did, he always acted like a good Captain, and from what I understand Momo Hinamori was a genuinely nice young girl. We may not be able to replace them completely, and I wont try to, instead we'll do thing my way."

"Same for me , I mean not replace that Momo girl and that crap he just said" Hiyori said. " I use to be a Lieutenant over a hundred years ago, and was in squad 12 for a long time, so I do have a lot of experience. I guess I will take a while to get use to me and stuff, and If you can't then you know where the door is"

"Hey I have no problem serving you Lieutenant, but isn't the fate of a Soul Reaper in this Squad who has a problem , that of Captain Kurosaki here?" Asked one of the female Soul Reapers.

"Actually, since some of you aren't aware, I became A Soul Reaper from Rukia Kuchiki originally." Ichigo said, scratching his head. "even though my powers I have now, are my own, I have no experience leading anybody , nor do I know much about the Soul Society. That being said, Since Hiyori here was a former Lieutenant as was living here for a very long time before, She has my authority to deal with you Squad members in my place, in any fashion she deems."

" In other words, if you don't get along well in this Squad and she tells you to leave, then you better leave, and think of it as if it was an order from me, your captain." Ichigo finished, looking around. " Any other questions?"

No one else said anything, so he stood up. " Oh by the way, who's the third seat here?" Ichigo asked, looking serious.

A small, skinny girl with medium length dark blue hair, a few red highlights in a ponytail and a spiked collar on her neck stood up. "That would be me, " she said lazily. " What do want sir?"

"I want you to show me and Hiyori to the Captain's office thing and the three of us need to talk." Ichigo said. " Ready Hiyori?"

"Yeah pretty much, the rest of you maggots are dismissed for now, go train in the training grounds for now" Hiyori said, folding her arms , looking as intimidating as a nearly 4 and a half foot tall girl could.

"I haven't been her for that long, maybe a week, but I thing I know the way, Captain" she said yawning, as she led them out the a pair of sliding doors and down a hall.

After a few minute they came to a stop and Ichigo opened the door, revealing a large office with a desk and lots of books on several bookshelves. "not bad I guess" Said Ichigo as they walked in and looked around. He walked to his desk and sat down on the chair. Alright, have a seat Hiyori and ,uh, what's your name 3rd seat girl?"

The girl sat down and sighed before answering her in lazy ,bored voice. " My name is Akira, Akira Tanaka ." She then looked at Ichigo and asked. " So what did you want to talk about ,captain? If it's about how thing were run in this squad before you in new to the squad myself, like I already said and don't really know much."

"Well then I guess were in similar boats, aren't we?" Ichigo said, looking at the girl. "You know, you kind of remind me of my sarcastic younger sister, Karin."

"Thanks, I guess" she replied, picking her teeth "Can I go now?"

"No, Karin.. I mean Akira, for the next couple of hour were going to talk about Squad 5 responsibilities and things like that, got it, 3rd seat ?" Hiyori said, standing up, and walking over behind the desk to stand next to Ichigo.

" Fine, whatever, let's just get this over with." Akira said, slumping in her chair.

"Don't whatever me, brat, I may look younger then you, but I'm far older and smarter." Hiyori said, sneering.

"Yeah, sorry, sheesh." Akira said, yawning again. " Can we begin?"

"Yes lets" Ichigo said, and they began to talk for the next several hours. .

It was several hours later and Hiyori told Ichigo a lot about his duties as a Captain, at least of what she knew from hanging around Captains Hikifune and Urahara. Akira didn't say much and seemed tired instead. "Well, we've been sitting for quite a while, you two wanna go , stretch and grab something to eat for dinner?"

"Sorry, but I'm not that hungry, captain" Akira said, standing up ,stretching her arms. " I'll see you tomorrow, Captain Kurosaki, Lieutenant Sarugaki."

"Sure, go ahead. " He said, starching his legs. " By the way, call me Ichigo, not Captain Kurosaki"

Akira stopped for a moment and looked at him . "Are you sure that's ok?"

"Yeah, I insist on it from you and the other Squad members." Ichigo said, nodding at her. " Have a good night Akira"

The mostly solemn looking girl, smiled briefly and said " Ok, … Ichigo, I'll try to remember that, see ya!"

"Well she's certainly a go-getter, huh?" Ichigo asked sarcastically, and grinning. He sat back down and looked absently at one of the papers on his desk.

"Yeah, she was just a bundle of energy, Ichigo" Hiyori said, as she hopped onto his lap and leaned back into him. "Let's just sit her for a few minutes like this, Ichigo"

"Oh really, ordering your Captain around are you, Lieutenant ?" Ichigo asked sarcastically as he wrapped his arms around her. "Your lucky I like you a little, or I'd be mad right now"

"Only a little, huh?" Hiyori said, turning around on his lap and facing him . " So, if you only like me a little, maybe I'll go find someone else to be my boyfriend, someone who like me a lot"

"Well aren't you playful right now?" Ichigo asked, leaning forward and kissing her as she angled her head upward. "So, can we go eat , and get some sleep?"

"Are you sure?" Hiyori asked, smiling evilly at him.

His stomach growled and he grinned. "Yeah, I'm sure."

She pouted slightly before getting of his lap. "You know, r either really inexperienced with woman, or think money is more important then me"

"Don't be like that, my little Snaggletooth" he said standing up and wrapping his arms around shoulders, and kissing her on the top of her head. " Let go and eat, and I'll tell you what, after were done doing whatever it is were going to do with Yoruichi and Soifon, you and I will spend the rest of the day together, doing whatever you like, how's that?"

"Well I suppose that's good enough" Hiyori said, hold his arms around her. " You better keep your promise, or I'll cut off your man hood tomorrow night, before you ever get to use it"

Ichigo gulped, hoping she was kidding, but agreed none the less. He unwrapped his arms and took her hand in his, slinking his finger between hers. They then walked out and proceeded to go to the Squad 5 cafeteria area to eat.

About an hour later or so, they walked back to the barracks, and one of the squad members showed Hiyori to her Lieutenant's quarters. Ichigo was led to his own quarters and he quickly got out if his robes and laid down on the unfamiliar, but very soft bed, to try and get some sleep. He set an alarm for 5am and closed his eyes. It was only a half hour later when he heard his doors slide open and then shut again. He open his eyes and saw a sleeping looking Hiyori with her hair down and not in it's usual pigtails. " Hey I wanted to sleep in your bed. Ichigo, I'm use to it, and it doesn't feel right sleeping on my own." She said, walking over to his bead

She dropped her Soul Reaper robes to reveal her usual red and white sweat suit. She took of the jacket and slid down the pants before sitting on the bed in her white tank top and red and white underwear. She quickly laid down and Ichigo pulled the covers over them, wrapping his right arm around her waist, before they both soon fell asleep.

The next morning , the alarm went off waking them up. Ichigo groaned opening his eyes and saw that Hiyori was laying on top of him, her eyes only half open. "Do we have to get up, Ichigo, I wanna go back to sleep."

"Well if you want, you can stay here and go back to sleep without me snaggletooth" Ichigo said, gently rolling her off of him, and sitting up.

"No, I said I would come with you, " Hiyori said, rubbing the sleepiness out her eyes.

Ichigo smiled at her, and said. " You know you look really cute, like that, with your hair down ,and rubbing at you eyes"

Her cheeks turned red and she threw a pillow at him. " Shut up moron" She said, though it was obviously not in a mean way, but an embarrassed way.

They both got up and got dressed, Hiyori choosing not to wear her robes, and instead had her usual sweat suit on , along with the Lieutenant's badge on her arm. Ichigo got his robes on and almost forgot his Captain's Haori , putting it on at the last minute. Once done the went and got some breakfast and arrived just before 6 at Yoruichi's training cave. Luckily , Soifon had also just arrived which meant they were late.

"Hey Soifon, morning" Ichigo said yawning.

"Good morning Captain Kurosaki, please refer to me by my title as Captain in the future however" She stated in a way that was not exactly mean , but not completely friendly like either. "We should go in, since Lady Yoruichi is no doubt already here"

"Mmhmm" Ichigo said absently as they walked into the opening in the mountainside and down the ladder. Once at the bottom they saw Yoruichi walking towards them smiling.

"Good, your all right on time" She said, coming to a stop. "if your all ready, we can begin"

"Uh, what exactly are we going to we doing today?" Ichigo asked shaking Hiyori's shoulder to get her all the way awake.

"Well although this is a talking related thing for the most part, we'll will do some physical training to.." Yoruichi said, looking at a sleepy Hiyori. "On second thought I think it should do the physical stuff first, and a few warm up exercises to start off."

It was about 4 and a half hours later and Soifon was showing Ichigo various combat techniques and currently, how to take down an enemy by throwing them. Hiyori had trained for a while as well but she decided to call it quits after a few hours and was content with watching him spar against Soifon on his own… As long as didn't get fresh with her Ichigo of course, she wasn't stupid and noticed Soifon staring at him in a strange way, if she tried anything, she need a new full set of teeth to replace all the ones she knocked out.

"Okay Ichigo, here's what's going to happen for this, first, come at me ,slightly from behind and the side" Soifon said, readying herself.

Ichigo did as she asked and she said what she was going to do as she did it, " Now I'm going to grab you by your right arm, that's in front of me and hold onto your wrist firmly, and hook my right arm under your armpit. I'm going to also hook my foot around the back area of your leg" She said, as she slowly, did this. "Now all in one motion, I'm going to turn my top half of my body to the left, and pull you over my shoulder by pulling you forward by your wrist and my hand under your armpit. I'm also going to push your leg back with mine ,which aids in this motion for me, and put you on your back." She ended it with carefully but firmly flipping him onto his back on the ground.

"Good, now I'm going to do it to you again, only this time it will be fast and you will hit the ground at full force." She readied her self again. "Ok, come at me, now!"

She repeated the same technique as a moment ago only this quickly and with force which ended with Ichigo being slammed onto his back on the ground. " Ow!, that kind of hurt!" Ichigo said laying there for a minute before getting up.

"Be glad Lady Yoruichi decide to bring some floor pads or as you called them "gym mats". Soifon replied, " Now you should be grateful, not only am I teaching you combat skills, but now you get to do the same maneuver to me. Try your best and I will instruct you along the way."

"Gladly" Ichigo said grinning, " I'm ready, come at me."

She came at him and she said "Now remember ,grab my arm in front and hook your right arm under my armpit."

"Yeah I remember!" He said as he did. "And now I push at your foot and pull you forward over my shoulder to out you on the ground, right?"

Soifon actually smiled and said. "Yes ,exactly, you pick up fighting moves quite fast."

Glad to here it" He said, grinning back as he brought her over his shoulder and brought her down onto the mat. "there how was that, .. _sensei _?"

She mumbled something about morons ruining things but stood up none the less. "Not bad, but don't call me _sensei, _Ichigo, just Captain or Captain Soifon will suffice."

"Sure thing Soifon, what's next?" He asked, dusting himself off.

"I told you it's captain… oh never mind, for now take a break for lunch and after I'll let Lady Yoruichi take over with the talking portion" Soifon said, shaking her head in annoyance , slightly I'll assist somewhat, but for the most part it will be her training you then."

"Oh, ok , sure." Ichigo said, walking over to Hiyori who stood up, seeing him walk over.

She noticed Soifon watching Ichigo, even though it was obvious she though no one noticed. She didn't say anything , but instead she wrapped her arms around Ichigo and snuggled her face into him, while watching the small amount of anger being thrown her way by Soifon.

"Well aren't you affectionate lately, I hope your still the sarcastic, nasty ,rude little spitfire, you usually are" Ichigo said, before wrapping his own arms around her in return.

Soifon threw more anger mixed with a bit of disappointment at Hiyori, who simply grinned at her evilly , letting her know she knew about her staring at her man earlier, and that she would never have him.

Ichigo let go of Hiyori and went over and grabbed some of the lunch Yoruichi had brought with her for them. "Hey Soifon," Ichigo asked after he sat down next to Hiyori and got ready to eat. "You wanna join me and Hiyori here? We can get to know each other better."

Soifon looked like she was about to consider it, till she saw Hiyori giving her a dirty look. "No, thank you, There is no need to "get to know each".

"What do you mean, we'll be working together as Captains, right?" Ichigo asked, breaking his chop sticks apart.

"Actually, Captains of different squads, rarely if ever work together on anything " Soifon said, walking away with her lunch. "In fact most squads don't even work with other squads, unless it's necessary. I'm, only helping you because I was order to, after our training is concluded, we'll probably never be together again… working together that is"

After lunch Yoruichi came over and said. " Ichigo it's time to begin teaching you about your duties as a Captain. Hey, here's Soifon ?"

"She wanted to eat lunch by herself" Ichigo said standing up. "you want me to go get her?"

"I'll do it" Said Hiyori, who ran off before anyone could say anything.

A few minutes later, she found Soifon who had finished eating and was sitting and staring into space.

"See anything interesting?" Hiyori asked looking at her, causing her to jump slightly. "Gee for the current commander of the stealth force, you sure are easy to sneak up on"

"I knew you were there, I just didn't say anything.." Soifon replied, looking over at her. "now what do you want?"

Two things, to tell you tell you Yoruichi's ready to begin training Ichigo in Captain related matters, and…. And to say that I may have been a bit harsh and crap earlier with the Ichigo thing, I just wanted to let you know that he's taken, and that we've had feeling for each other long before we came here, so you don't stand a chance with him"

Soifon raised an eyebrow at her, and said " Whoever said I was interested in him in that way? I ..like his abilities, his strength his confidence… though I suppose he somewhat attractive."

Yeah ,he is pretty cute huh? " Hiyori said grinning. "Especially when he does something stupid"

"Which I bet is often, huh?" Soifon said grinning back, and standing up. "don't worry I'm not going to take him from you.."

"Although I bet I could if really wanted too…" she added playfully. "Come on ,let's watch our dork in shining armor try to learn this Captain related stuff without his brain exploding"

Hiyori grinned and they made there way back to find Yoruichi had already started teaching Ichigo a few things. "What do mean I have to have my power limited in the world of the living, that's just stupid!" they heard Ichigo complain as they came into view. "what about my other power? Can I use that?"

"Well, I'll have to talk to the head Captain,.. In fact giving how much Spiritual power you have , which is growing by the day, by the way, it might not even be possible to invoke Gentei Kaijyo in you" Yoruichi said, holding her hand on her chin and thinking.

"Getai, what?" Ichigo asked confused. "What's that?"

""It's called Gentei Kaijyo and it's a power limiter in the form of a tattooed seal, that's placed on the bodies of Captain's and Lieutenants, when they enter thy world of the living." Soifon answered, walking closer to Yoruichi. " It's what keeps us from influencing the souls of the living while were there."

"Exactly, and you should know that better then anyone, Ichigo" Yoruichi said, looking at him. "We don't need another group of people like Chad and Orihime to appear where ever you go, although I'm convinced more of your friends were influenced by your Spiritual Pressure then just them, I just haven't had time to confirm it yet"

"Some of my other friends besides Chad and Orihime?" Ichigo asked, thinking .

"Don't worry about it for now, I'll find out about what to do with your excessive Spiritual Pressure with the head Captain, maybe a device created by the department of research and development , like Captain Zaraki has in the form of the eye patch he wears." Yoruichi said, looking back at him " For now break for the rest of the day, go back to your squad for now I guess, and be here tomorrow at about… we'll say 8 am this time, maybe you'll be more awake at a latter time"

They all went there separate ways and like he Promised Ichigo and Hiyori spent the rest of the day together, and laid on top of the roof of the Squad 5 barracks that night, talking. "So I think I wanna visit the midget, Rukia tomorrow, like I said I would, I have talked to her since he other day, and I might not get the chance after I'm done with my training" Ichigo said, as he stroked Hiyori's hair. " We'll go after were done with Yoruichi and Soifon tomorrow, alright?"

"That's fine" Hiyori said, enjoying his hand rubbing threw her hair. "I'm kind of tired though, lets get some sleep, Ichigo"

"Fine, I'm kind of tired myself.. And sore from training too" Ichigo said, getting up and about to pull Hiyori up with him, until she stopped him.

"Wait, I wanna sleep outside tonight, it's nice out here" She said, looking up at him. "Get get some pillows and blankets, dumbass!"

"Yeah ,yeah, you little ankle biter" He said, sarcastically. He ran off and came back with said items. He laid a blanket on the roof under them and she laid on top of him for only a few minutes before fallen asleep while mumbling things like " stupid moron Ichigo is lucky he's cute… or I'd kick his ass.." and his favorite, "Evil ducks from hell…"

He laughed lightly and closed his eyes,_ I better rest up for tomorrow's torture fest, uh training_, he thought to himself, before dozing off himself.

END OF CHAPTER 25

To be continued, in the next chapter…..

,Please read, enjoy, and review. See ya in a few days or so with the next chapter. Peace till then!


	26. Chapter 26

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 26

It had been several days of training, both physical, with Soifon and Captain protocol stuff with Yoruichi, and Ichigo was glad it was finally over. On the last day, Rukia, Orihime and Chad, who had decide to stay in the Soul Society, when Ichigo announced he was going home to visit in a about a week, came to watch his training/torture session and went with Ichigo and Hiyori to celebrate it being over at last. Now Ichigo had to concentrate on running his squad and whatever Aizen was planning. Since Ichigo had been working so hard, he decide to visit his family in the world of the living the next day, and he wasn't sure what to say to them. He knew his family was open minded when it came to ghosts and stuff, but telling them he was a Soul Reaper and would be living in the Soul Society wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell them the truth, and make something up instead" Ichigo said to Hiyori as they sat in his office and did their paperwork. " What do you think, Hiyori?"

"You need to tell them, moron. If you don't then I will" Hiyori said, leaning against him, as she sat on his lap, doing her paperwork. "Their are devices in the department of Research and Development that could make even your dad see spirits, and I'll bring something along and show him us in Soul form, if you don't tell them."

"Oh really?" He asked, signing his name at the bottom of a P.O. form ( purchase order form). " What makes you think they'll believe you, even then, My dad is an idiot you know"

"Along with being a pervert too,…" She mumbled. " I already asked Yoruichi to stand by with something, incase you chicken out, so you don't really have a choice."

"You know ,your lucky I love your little ass, or I'd punt you somewhere" Ichigo said, pulling her close to him and kissing her on top of her head. " So, are you already to go tomorrow?"

"Yeah , and so are you, besides what ever Yoruichi comes up with to seal away some of your Spiritual Pressure" Hiyori said, finishing off the last of hers are of the work. "I wonder what she'll come up with?"

"Not sure, I guess we'll have to wait and find out, though I'll still think it's pointless." Ichigo replied, ushering for her to get off him, so he could stand up ,and stretch his legs. "Besides, I just want to enjoy a normal week of spending time with my sisters and my idiot dad, and go to school to see Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo. I'm sure Tatsuki's worried about Orihime too, though I'll also have to explain to Tatsuki about me not being there any more, and that might be harder then telling my family anything, me and Tatsuki are…really close, you know"

"Yeah I know that, and it is going to be hard, that's for sure" Hiyori said, agreeing. " But stop being so damn negative, it's annoying!"

She kicked him in his shin before he could respond and grinned. " Now, let's go address the squad and find Yoruichi"

Ichigo held his shin for a few minutes before nodding to her. And they went to assemble the squad to talk with, before going to look for Yoruichi. Some of his squad didn't care but quite a few had come to admire the former Substitute Soul Reaper turned Captain, and weren't fond of following orders from the lazy third seat Squad member Akira, while he was gone . The next day, Ichigo, Hiyori, Yoruichi, Orihime, Chad, and Kukaku( who would take no for an answer when she asked to visit the world of the living with him) stood waiting for the Senkaimon to be opened for them. Rukia came to see them off, but needed to stay in the Soul Society in order to recover her full Soul Reaper powers, which hadn't completely returned, despite being back for about a week's time.

"Oh, Ichigo, Hiyori, wait a second" Captain Kyoraku who had to see them off, In the absence of his long time friend Captain Ukitake. " Jushiro wanted me to give this to you two." Kyoraku said, handing them small palm sized badges that looked like skulls.

"Uh thanks Captain Kyoraku…" Ichigo said looking at it. "So what are these things, anyway?"

"Well first I told you call me Shunsui," He said to Ichigo, raising the brim of his hat. "And second of all that thing is a transformation badge, that will allow you transform into a Soul Reaper without needing a Soul Candy. Jushiro wanted me to give it too you"

"Hey, wait a second" Hiyori said, looking at her own badge. " Does it put a artificial soul in the body like the Soul Candy does?"

"Hmm? Uh nope, which is why you two should only use it in an emergency" Shunsui replied to her.

"By the way, why isn't Captain Ukitake.. I mean Jushiro not here ? Not feeling well?" Ichigo asked. pocketing his badge.

"Yeah, he wanted to see you off himself but had quite the coughing fit this morning and got a bit of fever too. He send his regards though" Shunsui said. " Oh the gates opening , you all get going. Ichigo, Hiyori, you can use a hell butterfly to return but not for the trip right now, you have to pass through the Dangai world again. Hiyori will train you how to use the hell butterfly before you come back"

"Terrific.." Ichigo exclaimed, walking forward. " Ok guys, and girls, remember , run like a bat out of hell till you get through the other side in Hat and Clog's shop.. So lets go!"

With that they ran as fast as they could through the Dangai, and were just glad they didn't run into the cleaner this time around. They reached the end and all tumbled out painfully onto the ground of Urahara's training area.

"Ouch…that was annoyingly painful." Ichigo said, groaning as he stood up along with the others. "At least we didn't fall several feet like when we entered the Soul Society."

"Well, well, well.. What do we have here? My favorite companions" Urahara exclaimed ,walking out from behind a large boulder. " Ichigo there's something I need to say…."

He crouched to one knee and said. " Ichigo what I did to you and Rukia.. Was wrong beyond comprehension. From the bottom of my Soul, I give you my deepest and most sincere apology ."

Ichigo growled and punted him in the face with his foot. "Quit your bowing crap, Urahara. I don't like what you did, though I do understand the reasons." Ichigo said, looking at the man who held his face in pain. "If you promise to apologize to Rukia in person the next time you see her, then I'll for give you completely, got it?"

"Glad to hear it young Kurosaki" Urahara exclaimed despite a bloody nose, in his usual cheerful voice. "Now come one and let's head up stairs."

"Stop being so cheerful again, you stupid dumbass" Hiyori yelled kicking him in his shin after he had stood up.

"You two are so very much alike these days, in personality and physical attacks" Urahara said, now holding his shin. "Now come on, I'll have Ururu make everyone some tea before Ichigo and Hiyori head home to see his family, even though it's been a school vacation, they'll still want to see you, so hurry it up"

They all went up the ladder to the top , ground floor level , but Urahara held Ichigo back for a moment.

"Ichigo, have you thought at all what your gonna say to your father and sisters?" Urahara asked, in a serious tone. " You need to tell them something and I think it should be the truth. Telling humans about this stuff is usually forbidden, but given the fact that you yourself are human, it's already an unusual circumstance as it is."

"I'm not sure what to say… "hey Dad, Karin, Yuzu turns out there are big nasty evil ghosts attacking people, that I need to hunt down, a Soul Reaper Oh and there's this place where ghosts go when they pass on. By the way, they want me to stay there from now on and lead a squad of these Soul Reapers and only come back here once in a while, Is that ok? Good lets have dinner". How's that Urahara?" Ichigo asked in one long breath.

"Well it good to hear you planed this out Ichigo!" Urahara a replied, grinning.

"Shut up moron, I was being sarcastic and you know it!" Ichigo yelled out at him. "I need to figure out what to sat to them.. And my friends too"

"Tatsuki's gonna kick my ass if I tell her I'm leaving" Ichigo said, slumping his shoulders. "Well ,come on I need to get home, and to figure out where Kukaku is staying while she's here"

"Don't worry she can use a room her for now, though your right, you need to get home and figure out what to say, ASAP. Good luck to you either way, my young friend" Urahara said as he slid open the door and they went out to the others.

Ichigo decide to stay and sleep at Urahara's shop since it was night time already and the next day he would head home after school. He and Hiyori arrived at school and was greeted my Mizuiro and Keigo in the hall outside the classroom.

"Hey Ichigo, Hiyori, welcome back, you have fun over break?" Mizuiro asked, closing his cell phone up.

"More or less" Ichigo said, walking into the class room with him and Keigo, who wined about Ichigo being too busy over break to hang out with him.

"Hey Ichigo, welcome back moron" Said a female voice, from behind him.

Ichigo felt two arm wrap around him from behind and give him a brief hug, before he turned around to find Tatsuki standing there with Orihime nearby.

"Tatsuki, hi.. What's with a hug.?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow. Further more, since when are you a girl who hugs people, anyway?"

"It was because despite your stupidity your still my idiot friend, and I made an exception about my no hugging rule for you, like I do for Orihime." Tatsuki said, before punching him in his stomach as hard as she could, bringing him to his knees

"And that was for not being home, when I came over to hang out with you, you jackass." She said, punching her fist into her other hand. "I had better things to do, then to go over to your house every single day to see if you were there, and would hang out with me…. Speaking of which ,you owe me some spending time together time Ichigo. In fact I'm coming over to your house tonight for dinner for starters, and I'm not taking no for an answer either, got it?"

Ichigo held his stomach and mad his way to his seat.

"Man Ichigo your lucky you're her friend, who's knows what she'd do if your weren't. Probably land you in the hospital or something" Said Mizuiro, sitting down by him.

"You friend is insane, how long have you and psycho girl been friends anyway?" Keigo asked, also sitting down. "Did you know she was a demon is disguise before now?"

"She not a demon, just … well, that's just the way she is." Ichigo said. His stomach pain passing. " AS for the other question,.. We've been close friends since we were like 4 year old."

"Old friend or not, she still insane" Keigo wined.

"Insane am I?" Asked and evilly grinning Tatsuki, who was standing beside Keigo's seat. " You have 5 seconds to run like hell"

As Tatsuki chased and easily caught Keigo and beat the crap out of him nearby, Ichigo turned to Mizuiro and said " She may be a little off and .. Extreme about things at times, but she's one of my best friends and without her by my side in the past, I wouldn't have gotten through things as easily as I did, I owe her a lot"

Tatsuki heard this and smiled on the inside. She wasn't about to say anything though, she had already hugged in in public and had an image to maintain. She balance the hug by punching him but felt it was fine to leave it as it was and have a seat. A minute later, the teacher Miss Ochi, came in and started class.

Not ten minutes had passed when two voices from out side shouted up into the window. "You, Ichigo Kurosaki, where are you strawberry!" Called a rough male voice, followed by a shrill female voice saying "Oh Ichigo! Where are you cutie!"

"Those voices…" Orihime said, in a low voice "They sound like.."

Ichigo raced to the window and looked down along with Hiyori, Keigo, Orihime, Chad and Tatsuki. "What the hell… Renji.. And that blond girl.. What your name too. What the hell are yelling for and why are you here?" Ichigo yelled down. "hold on to that answer that, I'll be right down instead, come on Hiyori"

He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out the hallway, only stopping to say to the teacher. " Those two are my cousins, yeah,… and there not from around here, I'll be right back"

"That's fine Ichigo , come back as soon as you can.." Miss Ochi said, waving him off " Now for the rest of us,… let's get back to work"

"Not fair, how come they can run out without getting in trouble, miss Ochi, why can't I ?" Keigo whined.

"Because their not idiots like you, and I like them better, now shut up or you get detention" She replied, picking up her chalk and going back to the board.

Back outside,…

"Hey ,come on, I know your up there, come down already" Renji yelled up to the window, while Rangiku stood adjusting her school uniform shirt nearby.

Just then Ichigo and Hiyori ran down the path and drop kicked Renji into the bushes. "Hey what's the big idea, jackass?" Renji yelled getting. "How come you didn't do anything to her?"

"Because she only yelled up once and you kept at it till we just came down here" Hiyori said, grinning.

"Not to mention she's a female and I don't hit females.. Beside the occasional friendly head smack to Hiyori here." Ichigo said, grinning at him.

"Oh!.. That so sweet, Ichigo!" Rangiku yelled, pulling him into a deep hug that had him face first in her chest.

He pulled away, face red. "What the hell! I don't even know you, not to mention even if I did, what kind of girl does that?" Ichigo yelled at her ,while Hiyori stood nearby, grinding her teeth so hard sparks flew out.

"Oh, would you like to get to know me better? This isn't really the time for such things, what with on assignment here, but if you have an empty room where no one will disturb us…" Rangiku said, grinning and blushing at him.

She got smacked in the back of the head by Hiyori " Keep you your dirty thoughts and hands to your self, the hussy!, he taken!" Hiyori yelled at her.

"Oh your taken too bad.. How about a threesome?" She asked, looking hopeful.

Renji flew back in a nose bleed while Ichigo just turned his beat red face away. "Wait a second, your on assignment? As in your assigned here to Karakura?" Ichigo asked his face returning to a normal color.

"For now, yeah" Said Renji, who had tissues shove in his nose. "Damn, these Gigai's are really stiff and uncomfortable to wear, your lucky you have a real body, Ichigo"

"How the heck did you two find me anyway?" Ichigo asked, ignoring him, and rubbing the back of his head.

"Urahara told us, simple as that" Renji stated, stretching.

"Whatever I gotta get back to class, so stop coming around here, you weirdo's." Ichigo said, taking Hiyori's hand and walking back to class.

After school, Ichigo and Hiyori arrived at Ichigo's house but forgot to stop holding hands before they reached the front door. Ichigo's dad, Isshin threw open the door suddenly, catching them off guard.

"Hello Ichigo! Welcome back my son." He yelled out trying to kick at him but missing. "And what's this, holding hands! You and my third daughter.. The real reason is clear for your trip you wanted to elope and get married!, didn't you!"

Ichigo uppercutted him into the door which opened as he hit it and he flew through opening and inside. He and Hiyori walked in over top of Isshin's dazed body and over to the table. Karin was sitting waiting for dinner, when she looked and saw them walking over.

"I thought that was you, welcome back big brother" Karin said, with a small, half smile." Hey Yuzu, Ichigo and Hiyori are back!"

Yuzu poked her head out of the Kitchen doorway and ran over to them "Ichigo, welcome back, we all really missed you!" Yuzu said, hugging him. " Even Karin did"

"Shut up, Yuzu!" Karin replied, turning to hide her blush. You were the one crying, he wasn't here along with dad, not me. Stop trying to ruin my image."

"Yeah, I missed you , brat." Ichigo said, rubbing Karin's hair as he walked by.

He got kicked in the back by her after he passed by. Karin stood there, lowering her foot " Same here, Ichigo"

"Why is it, that nearly every woman in my life, has a dual personality of being both sweet and insane?" Ichigo asked, rubbing his back.

"You want me to kick you too?" Hiyori asked, walking by him.

"By the way, is it true you and my idiot brother are finally boyfriend and girlfriend?" Karin asked, sitting down. "It's about time, I though you two were going to just go on flirting forever"

Ichigo didn't answer her as he walked up the stair, muttering about how weird his family was.

After dinner and more combat with his Idiot dad, Ichigo and Hiyori went right to bed. The next morning Ichigo avoided his Dad's first attack when he woke up. "Ha! Your getting good my son, try this one on or size!" Isshin yelled jumping at him. This one , however, was interrupted by Hiyori, who punched her hand up in her sleep at the same time Isshin jumped over her head. Her fist came into contact right between his legs and he was instantly on the floor holding his stomach." Your girlfriend is.. Really good too" he wheezed out, before crawling out the door.

Hiyori woke up and saw Isshin crawling out the door in pain, " Huh? I thought I just hit something.. It was him?" She asked sitting up and wiping her eyes. They got dressed ,not even bother to worry about each other looking at the other anymore, and grabbed some breakfast, before heading out the door to school.

"Hey Ichigo, have you seen Orihime this morning?" Asked a concerned, Tatsuki as Ichigo and Hiyori came into class. "She's usually here before me, and she looked fine yesterday…"

"She's not here yet?" Ichigo asked, putting his bag down. " Is she sick or something? Maybe she called in. Try asking the teacher when she get's here first"

The teacher came into class soon after and said she hadn't called in and didn't know where Orihime was either.

"Ichigo why don't you and your friends go to her house and check on her" Miss Ochi said, going over attendance.

Keigo whined about again about special treatment till Tatsuki clonked him in his head with a textbook.

"Come on Ichigo, we need to find Orihime!" Tatsuki said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along while Chad and Hiyori raced after them.

Tatsuki let go of Ichigo as they ran down the street after street till they reached Orihime's neighborhood. Ichigo and the others caught their breath while they walked up to the apartment where Orihime lived. They knocked several time s and got no answer.

"What are you doing here?" Said a voice.

They turned around to see Uryu standing there, holding a school bag.

"Uryu! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked , staring at him

"I believe I asked you that first, Ichigo" Uryu replied. "You should really listen to people when they speak"

"Oh, um Orihime didn't show up to class, and didn't call in , so we got worried. Now she's not answering the door" Ichigo said, turning back to the door. "So why are you here?"

"Miss Inoue is missing?" Uryu asked, in a concerned voice. " My reason's for being here can wait, do you require help "

"Orihime! Are you there, it's Tatsuki! Open the door!" She shouted, pounding on the door. "That does it, I'm gonna-"

The door opened to reveal Orihime standing there, suddenly. "Tatsuki, Ichigo , Chad, Uryu, and Hiyori.. What are you guys doing here?"

"Orihime!" Tatsuki yelled hugging her. " Where were you?, are you sick?, why didn't you call in to school?"

"Oh, uh yeah I woke up with a little cold this morning," Orihime said, with a nervous laugh. "I left the window open last night so I probably got sick from the cool air."

"Well, were all glad to see your alright, Orihime" Ichigo, said standing next to Hiyori. " Are you coming to school?"

"School?" Orihime asked, strangely. "No, I uh, still don't feel 100 percent, I feel a little hot, so I'm going to lay down. I'll see you tomorrow everyone bye!"

She closed the door before anyone could say anything to her. "Well that was weird, Orihime was acting kind of strange,.. And she felt… different somehow, like her aura was different then usual.." Tatsuki said, somewhat quietly. " What do we do now?"

"Not sure…" Ichigo said, thinking. "What about the rest of you , any ideas?"

"Perhaps we should do surveillance of Miss Inoue , I also felt she was.. different then usual" Uryu said, adjusting his glasses.

"I think we should try it" Chad said out of nowhere. "It's better then nothing"

Suddenly the door opened back up and Orihime appeared saying " Tatsuki, I'm glad your still here , I need your help for a few minutes, ,ok?"

"Oh, sure Orihime," Tatsuke said, walking up to the open door. "I'll be along shortly, Ichigo, you guys can just wait here or get back to class to tell the teacher Orihime isn't feeling well"

"Um yeah I guess, see you later Tatsuki, Orihi-" Ichigo was cut off when Orihime slammed the door in there faces, as soon as Tatsuki was inside.

"That was rude, stupid bitch!" Hiyori said, in a nasty tone. "Who does she think she is, her with her watermelon breasts, and pea sized brain"

"Calm down, Hiyori, I'm sure it was…female related things she wanted to talk about" Ichigo said turning around. " Come on well wait for Tatsuki by the gate"

"Shouldn't we get to school?" Uryu inquired, picking up his bag, he had set down a few moments ago. " Surely Miss Arisawa is capable of dealing with one sick girl"

"Maybe, but something seems strange here, and Tatsuki herself said Orihime's Aura thing felt weird." Ichigo said as they reached the gate.

But just as they closed the gate behind them they heard a shrill scream from inside Orihime's apartment. "Tatskui!" Ichigo yelled, shoving the gate open and running up to the door. "Chad, break it down ,now!"

"But Ichigo, what if it's-" Uryu started to say, before Ichigo cut him off.

"Chad, do it!" Ichigo yelled standing to one side.

Chad nodded and slammed his shoulder into the door, cracking it's frame. A second slam had the door break off it's hinges, and crash to the ground.

"No matter how many times I see that, Chad's strength is insane" Uryu muttered, before dropping his bag and running in behind Ichigo and Chad.

Inside they found a strange thin man with black and yellow hair standing there. He was wearing glasses, white dress shirt, tie, multi colored jacket, and grey colored boots and top hat. The man looked at them and showed he was carrying an unconscious Tatsuki over his shoulder.

"Why hello there, it's a pleasure to meet you all, but I really must be going" He said, in a girlish, but definitely male ,voice "My task is done after all, bye!"

As soon as he was done speaking, he suddenly turned, ran to the railing on the small porch, and leapt of it, holding onto Tatsuki. "Get back, here you freak!" Ichigo yelled ,swallowing a Gikongan pill and transforming himself into a Soul Reaper. He grabbed onto Zangetsu and leaped of after him.

He chased after the man for several minutes, with the other in tow, some distance behind him , except Hiyori who appear on his back , one hand on the hilt of her sword, the other on his shoulder. "Keep up with him!" she said, holding on tightly. "We have to stop him, who ever he is!"

"Yeah, but I'm more worried about Tatsuki, she the main priority right now" He yelled back, leaping from telephone poll to telephone pole. "There!, he's stopping !"

They leaped to the ground and Hiyori let go of him, dropping to the ground and drawing her Zanpaktou. Ichigo pulled his own sword of his back as they walked forward a few feet.

"Had her over, now!" Ichigo snarled, griping his sword, hard.

"I don't think your in a position to demand anything , young man, not at all." The man stated. "In fact, I'm the one who can demand things, like I demand you stay wher you are or…. I might kill her.. And the other girl, Orihime as well"

"Tatsuki.. Orihime.." Ichigo said, in a somewhat subdued voice. "fine.. Don't hurt them.. But tell me what you want with them."

"If we told you anything like that, it wouldn't be much of a game, silly boy" A female voice said, from out of nowhere. "Come on bring the girl up here, would you?"

The man nodded to the top of a tall building and strange black energy vortex outlined in red, appeared behind him. He leapt backwards holding onto Tatsuki and disappeared into it. He reappeared from another similer energy vortex on the edge of the building top next to a small girl that was sitting on the edge of it.

Neither Ichigo or Hiyori could make out what the girl looked like due to the lack of light on top of the building. The quickly flew up to it when another vortex appeared behind the two strange figures. Ichigo unleashed a huge Getsuga Tensho upward at the figures, before Hiyori could say anything. The figures seemed to look at each other briefly before yelling out to Ichigo and Hiyori as they raced up towards them. "Don't worry, silly boy and silly girl, we'll meet again and our game will begin… but for now…. Bye!"

With that they disappeared into the vortex and vanished from sight just before Ichigo's Blast wave hit the topside of the building making a small explosion of concrete , glass and smoke when it hit. Hiyori and Ichigo reached half way up the building before hey stopped in mid air, and looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. They raced back to the ground and saw Chad, Uryu and Ichigo and Hiyori's Gikongan possessed bodies running up the street to meet them.

"Ichigo!, Hiyori!, what happened!" Uryu asked, as he, Chad, and Ichigo and Hiyori's bodies came to a stop in front of them. "Where did that man go.. And was messing up that building necessary?"

"They got away with Tatsuki and yeah it was" Hiyori said, growling. "They disappeared through some portal"

"They? There was more then one of them?" Chad asked, looking at her. "Did that man have a friend?"

"Yeah , some small girl" Hiyori stated, "With an really annoying voice"

"Now what?" Uryu asked , pushing his glasses which were sliding down his face , back up his nose. "What can we do?"

Ichigo just growled and put his sword back on his back, before speaking. "Mr. Hat and Clogs, he seems to know a little of everything of what happened in this town. We go to him"

"Mr. Hat and Clogs….?" Uryu asked ,raising an eyebrow.

"He means Kisuke Urahara,.. A friend of sorts" Hiyori said to him, putting her own sword away. Let's get back into our bodies Ichigo , and go to Kisuke's shop."

He and Hiyori did as she asked and they set out toward Urahara's shop.

"Are you sure this person can help?" Uryu asked, looking over at Ichigo.

"Doesn't matter, we have no other information right now, so it's the best we can do" Ichigo replied. "I just hope Tatsuki and Orihime are ok"

Uryu looked upward at the sun that was over head, signaling mid-day. "We all do Ichigo , we all do"

END OF CHAPTER 26

To be continued, in the next chapter….. Number 27

Till then, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon with the next chapter. Peace till then!


	27. Chapter 27

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 26

Ichigo, Hiyori, Chad, and Uryu had ran to Urahara's shop and just as they arrived Renji and Rangiku jumped down from the sky, landing in front of them.

"We thought it was you and your friends Ichigo" Renji said, smoothing out his robes. ""No one else I know has that much Spiritual Pressure"

"Renji, Rangiku. What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, in surprise.

"Simple, cutie, we felt a huge clash of Spiritual Pressure and followed it. When we arrived it was mostly gone, but a trail led in this direction, so we followed it" Rangiku replied, pushing some loose hair back behind her ear. "Just now , when we were following it, we saw you and realized who most of it belonged to"

"So what happened anyway?" Renji asked, looking at Ichigo. " For that much spiritual energy to be thrown around, it was obviously something big, am I right?"

"My friends, Tatsuki and Orihime were kidnapped by some strange guy, and a short girl." Ichigo snarled out, gritting his teeth. " That's what happened!"

"Take it easy, tell us what happened exactly" Rangiku said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we can help get them back"

Suddenly, the shop doors slid open to reveal Tessai, holding a broom,. " Oh, master Ichigo, and miss Hiyori.. I wondered what all the yelling was." Tessai said, lowering the broom. " So what brings you all here right now?"

"We have a problem, where's that lazy assed Kisuke at?" Hiyori said, grabbing Tessai by the shirt, and pulling him down to face level. " We need to talk to that moron, now!"

"I see, the please come in everyone, I'll fetch the boss for you" Tessai, replied leaving the door open for them, and walking off to get Urahara. "Head to main room, and wait there. Miss Kukaku is there drinking tea at the moment"

They all hurried into the room, and Kukaku looked up to see them. " Huh?.. Oh little brother, what's up?… Ichigo? Is everything alright?" She asked, standing up ,and walking over to him. " Did something happen?"

"Yeah it did" He replied to her, clenching his fists. "Something bad…"

She pulled him into a face squishing hug, to which he didn't even try to fight against this time. "Have a seat and tell your big sister all about it" She said, pulling back and sitting down.

As he and the others sat, Urahara walked into the room smiling as usual. "Welcome back, old friends, and new friends alike" He said, fanning him self with his little hand fan. " So what can I do for you?"

Hiyori kicked him in his stomach and said "Stop being so fucking happy you, dipshit, we got a situation"

"A situation?" He asked, holding his stomach and looking up at them. "What kind of situation?"

After he sat down, Hiyori and Ichigo explained what had happened to Tatsuki and Orihime earlier.

"… And that's when they disappeared." Ichigo said, smashing his hand onto the table.

"Take it easy Ichigo. Your going to hurt yourself" Hiyori said, in surprisingly calm and sweet tone as, she placed her hand on top of his. ( kind and then angry.. she's kind got a split personality thing going on, huh?) " Well get through it ,get them back and kick those freak's asses in the middle of next year!"

"Yeah.., thanks,.. your right" He replied, smiling slightly. "So can you Urahara?"

"Huh, you actually called me by my name, I though you didn't remember it" Urahara said, jokingly. He turned back to mostly serious when Hiyori glared at him, and said. " As for what I can do. I'm not sure, but I'll try my best, my young friend"

"Hey, boss, we need you in the back for a sec" Tessai said, after he came into the room and set down some tea for everyone.

"Huh? Oh ,ok" Urahara said, standing up. " I'll be right back everyone, enjoy the tea."

He followed Tessai out of the room and into another room where Jinta was sitting at a monitor. "Yo, boss man, you gotta check this out" Jinta said, pointing to the screen.

Urahara leans over and looks at a strange wavelength going across the screen. "Uh, what am I looking at?" he asked ,looking at Tessai.

"A strange burst of energy, that we detected in the city. We can not identify it" Tessai replied, looking at the screen.

"Huh… Is it the same one we detected this morning?" Urahara asked, rubbing his chin. " And do we at least know the location this time?"

"As far as we know it is indeed the same as before.." Tessai replied,

"I see… " Urahara said, looking away from the monitor. "For now, just keep an eye on things, we'll leave Ichigo and the others …..in the dark about this , so to speak.."

"They have enough going on right now as it is, afterall" Urahara, exclaimed, grinning. " We'll I need to get back, so keep me advised"

Tessai and Jinta nodded as Urahara rejoined the others. "So what was so important Dumbass?" Hiyori asked, getting comfortable where she sat.

"Oh It's not-…uh.. Why are you sitting on Ichigo's lap ?" Urahara asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

Hiyori blushed and snarled out.".. Because.. BECAUSE HE'S MY BOYFRIEND, YOU STUPID LAZY ASSED HIPPY!"

"Really?… We'll it seems I owe 500 yen.." Urahara said, smiling.

"YOU WERE BETTING ON US BECOMEING A COUPLE ! "Ichigo exclaimed, trying to get Hiyori off his lap so he get at Urahara. " I'M GOING TAKE YOUR HAT ANS SHOVE IT UP YOU'RE A-"

"Ichigo!" Uryu said, putting his hand on his shoulder. " This is no time tot be arguing ,, or have you forgotten about Tatsuki and Orihime?"

"Damn!… your right Uryu.. thanks" Ichigo said, as he stopped trying to get up and go after Urahara.

Uryu removed his hand and adjusted his glasses.. " It's nothing, though I'd appreciate if you didn't act like I was your friend.. I am only your acquaintance, nothing more." Uryu said, sipping his tea. " Or have you forgotten that Soul Reapers are my enemies?"

"Yeah ,yeah, the pride of the Quincy crap.. Whatever…" Ichigo said, smirking. "Are you going to help or not?"

"Of course, both Miss Arisawa and Miss Inoue are victims of some malevolent individuals, to no fault of there own." Uryu said, looking at Ichigo. "I have no reason not to help them. By the way, what's with the white jacket?, decided to add something to make it as good as a Quincy's uniform?"

"Actually, this moron was made a Captain" Renji said, gulping down his tea. " Lucky bastard.."

"A captain!" Uryu said, spitting out his tea. "But your just a substitute and a human, how in the world did you become an official Soul Reaper and a captain at that!"

"You act like I'm a loser who doesn't deserve it.." Ichigo said, scowling. " If you knew what happened in the Soul Society when we went there, you'd understand.. Now, about Tatsuki and Orihim-"

A cell phone rang and Rangiku discovered it was hers. "Oh it's my soul pager! I wonder who it is?" She exclaimed looking at it, and answering it. "Hello? Rangiku Matsumoto of Squad 10 here, who is it?"

"Huh? You wanna speak to everyone? Sure, I'll put you on speaker phone… ok go ahead, miss, whenever your ready!" Rangiku said, putting the phone on the table so everyone could hear it.

"So who is it? Renji asked, looking down at the phone.

"I have no idea!" Rangiku said, smiling brightly.

_Then don't act like you do! _everyone thought simultaneously.

"_Can everyone hear me?" _said a shrill female voice on the phone. _" I hope so, cause I'm only saying this once. Were going to play a game, and if you win I'll give you your friend Tatsuki back!"_

"What if… what if you win?" Ichigo asked , nervously.

"_Then you'll never see her again!" _The voice replied laughing , happily.

"You'll little bitch! Ehen I get my hand on you I'm going to wring your little-" Ichigo started to yell but was cut of by the voice of the girl.

"_No need to get so upset, silly boy! As long as you do as I say ,you win just fine!" _the voice said. _" And so will your feisty friend here ! Right girl?"_

"_I'm going to kick your pompous little ass so hard you'll never be able to sit again!" _A angry female voice yelled out through the phone.

"Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked, leaning forward. "Are you alright!"

"_Ichigo? Is that Ichigo your talking to on that phone?" _Tatsuki asked. _"Ichigo, you better not loose or I'll get back myself and kick YOUR ass! Got it?" _

Ichigo, Hiyori, Chad, and Uryu all sweat dropped and thought , _That's definitely Tatsuki_!

"Don't worry, we wont lose!" Ichigo said, grinning and clenching his fist. " Right Hiyori?"

"Damn right, I'm gonna kick that shrill voiced little girl ass!" Hiyori said, in agreement. " Hey shrill voiced girl, what do we do first?"

"_You wanna get started? Sure! I'll be giving you a series of easy riddles, and you have a set amount of time , that varies for each one, to solve it!" _The girl said_. "I'll call from a pay phone where your clue will be placed at , and if you answer right, you move on, ..if you don't you lode, and Tatsuki and Orihime stay here for ever! Fun right?"_

"You little bitch!" Ichigo snarled. "Just give us the first fucking clue!"

The voice then said, "That's no way to talk to a lady, I think I'll just kill the girls instead, bye….."

Urahara furrowed his eyebrows slightly, which was unnoticeable to all, except Tessai, who rejoined them and stood by Urahara.

"Boss, Is this part of the,.. Uh, thing?" Tessai asked in a whisper.

"Uh, not entirely.. I guess it's.. improv ?" Urahara replied backing a nervous whisper.

" Hey you better not touch or I'll-" Ichigo started before being cut off again by the voice from the phone.

"_Just kidding! Hahahahahahaha! … Anyway, your ready for your first riddle?" The voice asked. " Ok ready or not here it is! …. Here on earth it is true, yesterday is always before today; but there is a place where yesterday always follows today. Where is it?….. You have… 5 minutes to answer it and get to the first phone booth, its located 2 blocks from here at the Karakura Friendly, Happy Service Grocery store, good luck and make sure you get there, with the answer before I call, your time starts ..now!….."_

"Ichigo, everyone, get moving, I'll analyze the results of the trace I ran on the phone call, and contact you with the results." Urahara said, opening the door for them. "Good luck!"

The phone hung up and Ichigo immediately raced out the door with the Hiyori, Chad, Rangiku, Uryu, and Renji following.

"Ichigo, don't tell me you actually know the answer to that riddle so easily?" Uryu asked running beside him.

"Nope, not a clue" Ichigo replied, looking forward, and adjusting his Zanpaktou on his back.

The others sweat dropped as they ran by him. "They why are running the that store?" Rangiku asked, scratching her head, as she ran behind him.

"We'll figure out the answer on are way, this way we won't be late for when that little brat calls." Ichigo said, still looking forward. "So brainy, I mean Uryu, what's the answer?"

"Brainy?.." Uryu asked, in an irritated tone. " I shouldn't help, with that attitude ,….but, fine… lets see, I took the liberty of writing down the question she asked,.. As for the answer… hmmm…"

"Come on, were almost there!" Ichigo said, running. "What's the answer?"

"Wait.. The dictionary! " Uryu said, suddenly. "The word yesterday come after the word today."

"Are you sure, because there's the phone" Ichigo said, as they came to a stop by it.

"Yes I'm certain, It's the only place where today comes before yesterday," Uryu replied, adjusting his glasses. "Unless you have a time machine or something, but that's not in today's script"

"Damn ,I only read part of it, I was busy reading the bleach manga instead." Ichigo said, looking at the phone. " But enough about the fact that were aware of this being a story, isn't that phone going to ring?"

Just after he said that, as if by magic the phone did indeed rang and Ichigo immediately grabbed the receiver.

"Hello? Is this that annoying girl?" He asked into the phone.

"_Actually, it's not annoying little girl, silly boy, it's Lirin _( I'm going with the English dubbed version, I'm use to, even though it's really Ririn), _silly boy_" The voice said. " _Now do you have the answer to my riddle of __Here on earth it is true, yesterday is always before today; but there is a place where yesterday always follows today. ?"_

"The dictionary!" Ichigo said, confidently. "So where's the next clue?"

"_Oh , I was hoping you'd give a weird answer.. I bet your not the one who came up with it, huh? It was four eyes, right!" _The voice on the phone said.

"So what if it was four eyes, .I mean Uryu, we got the answer, and that's all that mattered , now about the next location…" Ichigo said into the receiver.

"_Fine, Mr impatient, go to Yumisawa Children's Park, the west end of it where the cluster of payphones and vending machines are ,." _Lirin said, to them. _"That where your clue is, and you better hurry!"_

"Come on, that's a ways from here, in the Mashiba district, lets move!" Ichigo said, scooping up Hiyori on his back. "We gotta get there fast!"

Meanwhile, back at Urahara's shop,….

"So any new info on the strange energy pattern from earlier?" Urahara asked, taking a sip of some tea.

"No new info, but there was another appearance of it, this time in the Minamikawase district" Tessai replied, walking over to him.

"hmm,… last time it was in the Komatsu district, right?" Urahara asked, putting down his tea. "Kind of random… but to be on the safe side, contact Yoruichi, and have her inform Captain Yamamoto of this… Man we really need a more direct line to that old man huh?"

"Indeed, we should relay that to Miss Yoruichi as well" Tessai, said, in agreement. "I'll get a hold of her, for you boss"

"Though perhaps calling off this whole thing might not be the worst thing… no I need to do this in order to test it.." Urahara said to himself, standing up, "I'll call it off only if anything else weird happened with the energy patterns or if the old man orders something. I just wonder what's going on here though… I hope it's nothing bad, though with are luck it probably is"

Back with Ichigo and the gang….

"Alright made it, and there's the clue, read it Uryu!" Ichigo said grinning, as Hiyori jumped off his back. " What's the riddle?"

"Relax, here it is" Uryu said, opening the envelope that was taped to the bottom of the payphone. " It says,… Two mothers and two daughters go to a pet store and buy three cats. Each female gets her own cat. How is this possible?"

Ichigo and the others all had blank looks on there faces. " Uh, any ideas?"

"Hmm,… we need to think about this logically ..." Uryu said, looking at the paper. " Lirin said they were easy riddles so.."

"That's an easy one, it's a grandmother, a mother and a daughter!" Rangiku suddenly said, out of nowhere, making everyone in the group, fall down. "A grandmother is also a mother, and that means 2 mother and 2 daughter, but only 2 people!"

After they all picked themselves up Renji asked, what everyone was thinking. " How the hell do you , of all people, know the answer to that?"

"What? Just because I'm blond, doesn't mean I'm stupid, I had high grades in the Soul reaper academy you know!" She said, turning her nose up. Then she wrapped her arms around Ichigo's arm and pressed her chest against him. " But my Ichigo doesn't think I'm stupid though , do you , cutie?"

Ichigo turned bright red and could only stutter. While Hiyori pushed her away and began chasing Rangiku around in circles.

"These two are both morons" Ichigo muttered, , while Renji and Chad nodded in silent agreement.

Finally as Hiyori continued to chase a laughing Rangiku around, the phone rang and Ichigo grabbed it up. " Hello, you read for the answer?"

"_Yup, lay it on me!" _Lirin said_. " What's the answer to the second riddle?"_

"It's a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter, 2 mothers, 2 daughters, but three people" Ichigo replied, "how's that!"

"_Again with a normal answer, your really need to lighten up and have some fun!" _Lirin said, sounding disappointed_. "Ok, you go this one too.. Since your so boring it's time for a new game , so if you get this one right, I'll give you back Tatsuki"_

"Wait, what about Orihime?" Ichigo asked. "Giver her back too"

"_Relax Ichigo, I'm saving her for the prize of the other game_" Lirin said, happily.

"Since when is Orihime a Prize?" Ichigo yelled at her. "…Just tell me the location of the final clue, will ya!"

"_Ok, ok.. Go to the Karakura Honchou district , you find the clue there, at the shopping center's at the store Hakuhinkan Toy Park ." _Lirin said, quickly, _" Look for the Payphone outside the entrance, good luck silly boy!" _

"Fine! We'll be there!" He said, before hanging up. " The final riddle is outside the Hakuhinkan Toy Park in the Karakura Honchou shopping center." Ichigo said to the others.

"Good, lets get this crap over!" Renji said, tightening the bandana around his head. "Find the riddle, answer it, kick that Lirin person's ass!"

"For once I agree with Mr eye brow boy here, lets go" Hiyori said jumping onto Ichigo's back

"Hey Hiyori" Renji asked as they ran across town to the shopping center, " What's up with Ichigo always giving you piggy back rides, can't you walk?.. Or is it because your just a perverted little girl?"

Hiyori lean forward over Ichigo's shoulder. "Ichigo, if you would."

Ichigo let go of one of Hiyori's legs and held his arm out straight. He quickly stopped and Renji, who didn't notice the abrupt stop and ran into his arm, knocking him on his ass.

"What the hell you asshole?" He roared, standing up.

The other quickly began running again and Rangiku just laughed like mad woman, at Renji while Renji himself ranted and raved.

After a short time they arrived and caught there breath while Hiyori walked up the payphones to find the riddle. After a minute she found the right one and opened the envelope as she walked over to the others.

"Well, what's it say?" Renji asked, sitting on a bench. " Read it already"

"Shut your pie hole, you dill weed, I'm about to read it right now" Hiyori said, with a tick mark.( you know, those things that show a character is mad) " Ok, it says, A word I know, six letters it contains. Subtract just one, and twelve is what remains.. What the fuck?"

"This actually sound familiar.." Ichigo said, holding his chin and thinking. "What was it?…"

"Dozens.." Said Chad out of nowhere. "That's the answer."

Everyone looked sat him like he had grew a second head.

"Well he is pretty high up in the class rank, so I guess it's not that surprising.." Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head. "So as soon as Lirin calls, we can get back Tatsuki"

"Yeah but it is surprising to hear him talk, he doesn't have much dialog in this fan-fiction story" Hiyori said, sitting down. "I know it's not his story, and he doesn't speak much anyway, but still.."

After they all got and drunk some cans of cold green tea from a vending machine and waited about 5 minutes, Lirin finally called on the payphone.

"_Ok ,I'm waiting for the answer, hurry up and tell me so we can move on to a funnier game" _Lirin said, impatiently .

"As long as we get Tatsuki back fine" Ichigo Said, in the phone. "The answer is dozens, happy? Now where is Tatsuki?"

"_Yeah , you got it, good for you,… you'll find the girl at your place in your room, Ichigo," _Lirin said in bored tone. _" I'll contact you guys soon with information on the next game, bye for now!"_

Come on, Tatsuki's back at my house in my room, apparently" Ichigo said, slamming the phone onto the booth.

"Oh really, in your room huh?.." Hiyori asked in a jealous manner that made Ichigo cringe. "Why is there a girl in your room, besides me?"

"Because that's where that bitch Lirin put her ,ok? Sheesh!" Ichigo said, his checks somewhat red. 'besides, Tatsuki lives near me."

"Fine I suppose I can forgive you, Ichi" Hiyori said in a teasing manner. "Besides I was just screwing with you, so relax and grow a sense of humor"

"I bet that's not the kind of screwing Ichigo wants to do with ya" Renji said grinning.

Hiyori calmly kneed him in his nuts, making him fall over. All the guys in the group cringed and unconsciously put there hands in front of there own privates.

"Uh.. Anyways.." Ichigo said, blushing , and trying to change the subject. "Let's get going to see if Tatsuki is alright"

Back in the Soul Society, Head Captain Yamamoto was being briefed on the strange energy appearances in Karakura, as well as a number of souls disappearing in the world of the living, by the Department of Research and Development and Yoruichi.

"… And that's the situation so far, sir" Said the technician from the Research Department.

"I see, thank for your report you are dismissed" Yamamoto said to the man. "Now then as for you, Yoruichi, Please coordinate with Urahara, Captain Kurosaki, Lieutenant Sarugaki and there young friends."

"Of course, I also heard that Lieutenants Matsumoto and Abarai are ther on assigment as well" Yoruichi said to him, hands on her hips. "I'll use them as well"

"Very well, go to the world of the living and do so, then. I bid you good luck, and make sure to keep me informed of the situation." Yamamoto said to her , drinking some tea he had on his desk. "Dismissed."

Yoruichi nodded and leaped off the balcony onto the rooftops below and flash-stepped away to get to the Shihoin private Senkaimon to talk to Kisuke.

"I wonder what is going on in the world of the living anyway?" She said out loud. " And I wonder if my feeling about it being a bigger problem then Aizen will be true or not?.."

She made her way across the Soul Society and prayed that it wouldn't.

Back in Karakura town they all made there way to Ichigo's house, and were lucky that Karin and Yuzu were still at school and Isshin was out buying medical supplies. They made there way up the stairs and Ichigo opened his door, expecting to see Tatsuki, which he did, but not in the manner he thought.

The others' watched as him and Renji blew back in a spray of blood from there nose, onto the wall. Hiyori, walked up and looked inside to Tatsuki laying on Ichigo's bed, in her underwear. This gave her a small nose bleed of her own, and she quickly turned around to face Uryu, Chad and Rangiku who had confuse looks on their faces.

"I need to take care of something, one moment" Hiyori said, wiping away the blood form her nose. " Stay there"

The door closed and a few minute later it reopened to reveal Hiyori , and fully awake Tatsuki, now full dressed in a pair of Ichigo's old pants and a shirt. Tatsuki looked at Ichigo and Renji, who had tissues shoved up their noses, and slightly red faces when they looked at her.

"Cool it down Ichigo and….. eyes brows guy from earlier at the school." She said, before hugging Ichigo briefly.

"Are you alright Tatsuki and…. Wait you can see us?" Ichigo asked in surprise. "I didn't even think just now, but since when can you see ..spirits?"

"Hmm…. Quite a while, the first time I remember seeing sprits is when you and Rukia fought against a monster claiming to be Orihime's brother, Sora." Tatsuki said, nonchalantly. "So how long were you going to wait to tell me you go around wearing robes, swinging swords, Ichigo?"

"Uh.. I didn't.. know you could… see us" Ichigo said, cheeks still red. " But uh, I'll explain everything to you later, right now the important thing, is that your ok.. Now all we gotta do, is get back Orihime"

"Damn right you will, you still owe me a dinner that I didn't get yet, By the way ,That's right,.. where is Orihime?" Tatsuki asked looking at him, with a hand on one hip " Cause she wasn't where ever I was at"

"She wasn't?" Uryu asked, surprised. "Then where is Lirin keeping her?"

"Hey, my Soul Pager is going off, I'll put it on the speaker mode thingy" Ichigo said, pulling it out of his robe. "Hello?"

"_Hey there silly boy, I thought of a knew game ,that will win you the prize of Orihime" _Lirin said, from the phone_ "You ready? Good, go to the public museum and I'll have your instructions waiting there in an envelope, bye !"_

"Hey wait, about Orihime.." Ichigo started to say before she hung up on them . " Damn little.. Never mind we gotta get to that museum.."

"What about Judo girl here?" Hiyori asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah Tatsuki, you can stay here, you no my house's lay out well enough, even if it has been a while since you came over" Ichigo said. "When my dad or sisters get home, just tell them your visiting me and I went out to get us some take out food or something.. I don't know make something up."

"Fuck no, I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm not sitting here , while Orihime is in danger, you go off to play hero like a damn fool!" Tatsuki said. "I don't know what's going on but I'm going to seriously hurt that little annoying bitch and that guy in a top hat!"

"Fine, it's not like we could stop you or anything, anyway.." Ichigo said, shaking his head. "Let's get moving."

It didn't take long to get there, and were surprised to find not only Orihime standing there, but Urahara as well.

"Mr. Hat and Clogs?" Ichigo exclaimed "What are you doing here?.. And Orihime, are you alright?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine Ichigo, really!" She replied, as Tatsuki hugged her.

"Well then this game is over , right Lirin, Kurodo, and Noba?" Urahara said looking up at the roof. " Get down here ,you three!"

Ichigo looked at the three who had kidnapped his friends, and stared for a moment before saying, "What the hell… IS GOING ON HERE?"

"Hey, why didn't anybody answer me?" Ichigo asked, "Urahara?"

"Sorry, Ichigo it's another cliffhanger!" Urahara replied.

"Not another one!" Ichigo said grumpily. "I'm going to read the latest Shonen Jump magazine, I heard the latest chapter of the Bleach manga is pretty good, see ya!"

END OF CHAPTER 27

To be continued, next chapter…..

As always, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon with chapter 28. Peace till then!


	28. Chapter 28

…**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Sorry about the long delay, I live on the eastern side of the Us, was more worried about whether or not the flood waters from the resent massive flooding would reach us or or not, which it didn't, thankfully, so here , without futher ordo is the next chapter.

Chapter 28

Ichigo, Hiyori, Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Uryu, Renji, Rangiku, Kukaku, Urahara, and Tessai were all in the underground training area, under Urahara's shop. Some of them were standing, others were either sitting on rocks, or directly on the ground.

"… So let me get this straight now,.. You wanted to test me and Hiyori to show me that I couldn't use Bankai until we relearned it, and that you, and these mod soul things were behind the whole kidnapping thing" Ichigo said, leaning against a rock with his arms folded. " So tell me something, Mr. Hat and clogs… DID YOU REALLY THINK WE'D BE OK WITH THIS, ONCE WE FOUND OUT!"

"Hehe,…hehe.. Uh no?" Urahara replied laughing nervously. " I knew you might be mad, but I did have a good reason behind it, not just the Bankai thing, but it was going to help you problem solving and things like that… if we had gotten around to it."

"Fine.. I get it, more or less.." Ichigo said, grumpily. " Now tell us, why did your little "experiment" end sooner then you had planned?"

"Yes that.." Urahara said, in a serious tone. "As soon as Yoruichi gets here, we'll begin that."

" She's at the Soul Society?" Hiyori asked. " Doing what, talking to the old man?"

"Hmm.. No, she's here in the world of the living, she's the one who told me that this thing with you guys needed to end prematurely." Urahara said, fanning himself, with his tiny fan. " She said, she needed to check something and then she'd some back here and-"

"Get this started, right Kisuke?" Yoruichi said, walking over to the group, with Captain Soifon behind her. " The sooner we get this done ,the sooner Ichigo and Hiyori can relearn Bankai"

"And just who said we needed to relearn it?" Ichigo said, irritated. "We don't need to relearn crap"

"Is that so?.." Yoruichi said smiling. " well then…show us"

Ichigo stood up, grabbing sword. "Fine by -"

"Pardon, me, but don't we have more important things to deal with right now?" Uryu asked, out loud. "Ichigo and Hiyori can demonstrate their Bankai later."

"Hmm… four eyes does have a point.. Fine we'll have them do that later," Yoruichi said, leaning against a boulder. " All right here's what we know. First, a number of strange bursts of energy have appeared in various places in Karakura. Secondly, a number of people have been found with there souls removed from them….or drained is more like it…. It's hard to explain, to be honest."

"Drained,… like a strigoi?" Hiyori asked, resting her chin on the hilt of her sword, that was stabbed into the ground.

"A strigoi?… what the hell is that ?" Ichigo asked, looking at her. "This thing sounds like a vampire to me."

"That is what she said… or at least the Romanian name, anyway" Uryu replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Right… anyway what are we suppose to do about this supposed vampire thing or things?" Ichigo asked, grumpily.

"Well, the orders for you , Hiyori, Rangiku, and Renji are to investigate these strange things going on." Yoruichi said, folding her arms and standing up away form the boulder. "As the others, Urahara has volunteered to assist us, and I brought Soifon to aid us as well"

"Good to see you again, Captain Kurosaki" Soifon said, looking over at him, him the faintest of blushed oh her cheeks.

"Oh, hey there Soifon, what's up?" Ichigo said, giving her a small smile and nod. " And by the way, my friends just call me Ichigo, not captain."

"Um.. Yes if that is what you'd prefer…. Ichigo" Soifon said, blushing again.

"Well, if your done flirting with Ichigo, we can get going, Soifon" Yoruichi said, grinning.

Soifon turned dark red, and Ichigo had a tiny blush on his face as he turned away.

"For now, we'll split up in to teams of 3." Urahara said, putting his fan away. " Here are the teams as follows, … Ichigo, Hiyori, and Uryu,…Chad, Orihime, and Rangiku, and finally Renji, Kukaku and myself… oh and I guess miss Arisawa better stay here so she's safe"

"Fuck that! I'm not sitting on the side lines for this crazy shit!" Tatsuki said, barring her teeth. "I'm going with Ichigo,.. He's too much of an idiot to be left on his own, even with the short girl's help"

" What did you call me, judo bitch?" Hiyori asked, growling. " That Lieutenant Hiyori Sarugaki to you."

"Whatever you say, LIEUENTANT… " Tatsuki said, glowering at Hiyori.

Yoruichi shook her head and said" Fine you can go, ..now then we'll_"

"Sorry to interrupt you, ma'am, but I have data from the department of research and development for you." Said a member of the stealth force who appeared out of nowhere, crouching next to Soifon. " It's in regards to the Reishi sample sent to them by Kisuke Urahara"

"Then speak already" Soifon said, impatiently. "What's the report?"

"Unfortunately, they could nor identify the sample, at this time" the stealth force member said, looking down at the ground. "They are continuing to examine it and will relay the any results ASAP"

"I see.. Is that all?" Soifon asked, looking down at him. "If it is ,then return upstairs to wait for any further transmissions from the Soul Society"

"Yes ma'am" He said, bowing , before disappearing.

"Now then we'll split up…" Yoruichi stated. " You'll head to the following parts of town, … Ichigo, Hiyori, and Uryu, you had the north side of town, Chad, Orihime, and Rangiku head to the south. Renji, Kukaku and myself will go the east. As for the west side, we'll all meet up there and investigate together"

"I'm going with Ichigo, remember?" Tatsuki said, walking over beside Ichigo.

"Fine, go with Ichigo, Hiyori and Uryu." Yoruichi said, sighing. "Everyone ready?, good then move out"

They all nodded and climbed up and out of the training grounds and out of the front doors of the shop.

In an train yard, on the eastside of the city, a woman who appeared to be in her early 20's, sitting on top of a small pile of wooden boards. She had brown, parted hair, and was dressed in a short with a large collar, a vest over top of it, and a red tie. She was humming to a train yard engineer, who was walking stiffly towards her, with his eyes wide in terror. He came to a stop in front of her and put her hands on his shoulders, and put her mouth near his neck. She appeared to start sucking on air from him. She heard a noise behind her and stopped. She turned and threw the man into her attacker as she darted and back flipped out of the way of Yoruichi.

"I sent the data to the research department, they have a live feed of us, right now" Renji, said, who appeared behind Yoruichi along with Kukaku.

"It's not nice to interrupt a lady's meal, you know" the Woman said to them. "We are, after all just two adults, having a pleasant time here"

"Really? And since when is having your soul Sucked out, considered a pleasant time?" Yoruichi asked, laying the man down gently on the ground. " And before I forget, who are you ,anyway?"

" Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?" The woman asked, grinning. " Or am I behind the times?.. It wouldn't be the first time"

" Yoruichi Shihoin, leader of the Shihoin clan" Yoruichi stated, crossing her arms. " Now you, missy"

"Very well, you may call me, Yoshino.. She said, turning to the side.

"I thought that was you, Yoshino" Yoruichi said, looking at her.

The woman leaped up onto the top of a nearby train.

"Wait!" Yoruichi said, stepping forward, "What are you up to?"

Yoshino looked down at them, and said, "And as much as I would love to chat further, I really must be going… But don't worry, well meet again ,..very soon"

With that, she leaped off of the train and out of sight. Yoruichi knelt down to check the man's pulse, "He'll be alright, we got here in time to stop her from taking his soul out."

"Hey, Yoruichi, did you know that bimbo?" Kukaku asked, putting her hands on her hips. " You seemed to know her, so what's the deal?"

"Yes I know her, thought it has been a very long time since I saw her like that…" Yoruichi said. " We need to contact the others, and let them know we saw one of the enemies."

Yoruichi contacted the other 2 teams and shortly later, they all met back at Urahara's shop, Ichigo's team was the last to arrive.

Before they even came inside the shop there voices could be heard. "It's her fault for being a stupid little midget, Ichigo" Tatsuki said, crossing her arms as they walked.

"No it's your fault for being jealous of me being with Ichigo, you stupid Judo bitch!" Hiyori could be heard saying. "You had like 10 years or so to hook up with him, and you wasted your change, so deal with it!"

"I'm not jealous of you and Ichigo, and if I really wanted him, I'd have no problems taking him from you!" Tatsuki said back. "He was my best friend for like 10 years before he met your short legged ass!"

Ichigo chose to stay a ways behind them, his face bright red, in embarrassment. _How was I suppose to know Tatsuki had a crush on me too?_ _she never told me anything about it ! _Ichigo though to himself. _Although, Now I'm wondering what would have happened if I had been dating her , when I first met Hiyori and Rukia, how would have things played out?.._

Ichigo tried to shake his head clear, as they slid open the door, to Urahara's shop. They walked in and went into the sitting room where the others were waiting. Hiyori and Tatsuki sat on either side of Ichigo, and both glared at one and other.

"Well, paint my ass blue and call me a baboon( 5 imaginary points to those who name the anime this is said in), it's about time you three showed up!" Urahara asked them, raising an eyebrow. "…..Uh.. Did you three have something happen, Hiyori and Tatsuki seem…tense."

"We'll talk about it later.." Ichigo said, grinning nervously. " So anyways,… what did you and The Soul Society find out?"

"Right, we managed to find out what's behind the strange spikes of Reishi and the disappearances of Soul in the world of the living." Urahara said, looking around the room at everyone. " Or should I say, _who_ is behind it. There called the Bounts"

"Bounts? What's a ..Bount?" Ichigo asked, blinking in confusion.

"When I was the Head of the Department of Research and Development, I came across some strange Reishi samples, ..that looked a lot like the one Yoruichi, Kukaku, and Renji collected from a almost victim earlier." Urahara, stated.

"Wait, I thought you, Renji and Kukaku Shiba stopped saved guy in the train yard" Uryu asked, adjusting his glasses.

"We did, but before we did we found another man who we were too late to save." Yoruichi said, her eyes closed. "We collected this Reishi from that person,.. as for what the Bounts are… Urahara, if you would"

"Right" He replied, nodding. " As I said, I found some similar Reishi before and traced it to a tribe of beings called the Bounts. The Bounts are similar to Quincys in that they are humans with special powers. Quincys can destroy the soul of hollows completely using Reishi converted into arrows as you know but, Bounts on the other hand have a special ability to absorb human souls , in order to have proper nourishment"

Urahara a took a sip of his tea and continued. "Another difference between Bounts and people like Quincys, is that Quincys are born as a human, live and eventually fie, like a normal human being. Bount however, are born as human, but gain immortality by absorbing human souls. Basically like a vampire, as they are also apparently known."

"Unfortunately, neither myself or Kisuke have seen or encountered a Bount ourselves beyond the one rime that I did, so we don't know anything beyond that, and I'm sure there's more " Yoruichi said, from beside Urahara. "Now then,… what concerns me, is that while a Bount normally absorbs the soul of a dying person, the Bount myself, Renji, and Kukaku encountered was trying to take the soul of a person that was very much alive"

"So what happens after a soul is removed from a person?" Ichigo asked, looking at Urahara.

"The same as what normally happens, death. Unfortunately, the soul is destroyed, and does not return to the circle of transmigration." Urahara stated, looking down. "This is another reason why this is considered a problem. Much like with Quincys, Bounts destroy the balance between the number of living and dead souls."

"So what are we waiting for?, lets go find this Bount and kick it's ass!" Ichigo jumping up.

"Correct you are Ichigo, we do indeed need to get moving. So, well split up again, but this time we'll have a little help." Urahara said, standing up along with everyone else. " These, three here, the ones you encountered before, well go with you, since they can track the Reishi of a Bount"

"They have that powers too?" Ichigo asked, looking down at the three in question. " You never even told us how you know these weirdo's, in the first place."

"Simple, I created them" Urahara replied., in a semi serious tone.

Everyone just stared , until Hiyori said, " What the fuck do you mean, created them?"

"Although they appear to be normal humans, they are nothing of the sort. The form you see them in before you, are merely Gigais" Urahara explained. " You see, these three are what's called mod souls"

"Mod souls? Are they anything like Gikongan?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"Well, there the same in the sense that their base form is that of a pill-like object and they too can be inserted into things like Gigais." Urahara said to him. "However, unlike a Gikongan, a mod soul is a true living being, like you or me, except they were created specifically for combat. Each Mod soul has a unique ability, like the ones these have that you witnessed first hand"

"First you saw the ability of the one wearing a hat, and his name is Kurodo." Yoruichi said, looking over at him. " In addition to him being able to sense Bounts, He can change his shape into any person and utilize the abilities of that person, although they won't be as strong as the real person he's copying"

"Then there's Nova, the very thin, fellow wearing the blue fur coat." Yoruichi said continuing. "Nova also can sense Bounts as well as use his special ability of teleportation. He can transport himself, along with others, and or objects, using artificially created wormholes, which he can focus with his shield on his back."

"And then there's me, Lirin. I can sense Bounts and more impressively , create powerful illusions, and make you see anything you can possibly imagine" Lirin said, smiling confidently. " I'm able to confuse my enemies, without needing to fight them, I can even make them fight each other"

"Yes, now then the three of them will go with you, while you all separate again and search for this Bount, where ever she may be in the city" Urahara said, looking around at everyone. "Well split into teams again , and Lirin, Kurodo and Nova will be partner with one of you, to help find this Bount"

Lirin, you will go with Ichigo, as well as Hiyori, and Uryu. Nova, you will be partnered with Chad, along with Renji, and Kukaku." Yoruichi said, folding her arms." And finally Kurodo, your partner is Orihime. You two will go with Rangiku and Soifon. .. As for Miss Arisawa,.. giving the serious danger, you will not be going this time, no matter how much you protest."

"You expect me to sit here and do nothing while there out there facing some vampire lady?" Tatsuki said , clenching her fists.

"Calm down, I will be training you here, on how to develop your hidden powers" Yoruichi said, calmly.

"I have ,… powers?" Tatsuki said, lowering her arms to her sides, her eyes wide.

"I believe so. Much like Orihime, and Chad you were exposed to the intense Spiritual Pressure that Ichigo was leaking off, and this is why you can see ghosts the way you can" Yoruichi said, looking at her. "You too, might also have developed a ability, and I will train you to see if this is true."

"…. Fine" Tatsuki said, after a minute " But Ichigo, you better return here safe, after this is done… that is unless I can join you later"

"And you, shorty, you better keep this idiot safe, got it?" Tatsuki said, looking over at Hiyori. " Or you and I will some problems, believe it!"

"Sure, what ever, judo bitch, I'll take _good _care of _my _Ichigo" Hiyori said ,with a nasty grin. " So let's get going already, alright?"

"Just one thing, first, the mod souls need to get into their stuffed dolls." Yoruichi said, looking over at them. "Tessai, would you give them a hand?"

"Of course, miss Yoruichi" Tessai said, standing in the doorway. "Please follow me, Lirin, Kurodo, and Nova"

"Yeah yeah, I still think this is stupid though." Lirin said crossing her arms, as she followed Tessai out of the room with her fellow mod Souls. "At least you could have gotten me a better looking one…"

"Uh stuffed dolls?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why do they need stuffed dolls for?"

Urahara gave a smile and looked at Ichigo. "Simple Ichigo, a mod soul as I said, is like a Gikongan pill and as such can be placed into a object living or dead and give the Mod Souls a temporary body so they can speak and what not , as well as they'll have a form that you guys, and girls can carry around them on your search"

" Like some kind of fashion accessory, you mean?" Orihime asked, smiling.

"Uh… not exactly, more like… hmm well I can't really compare it to something else." Urahara said, rubbing his chin. "It just is what it is.. Oh and before I forget, while in a doll, there powers will be less effective then normally,…. except for Kurodo, his power of mimicry won't function at all, I'm afraid"

A few minutes later the Mod Souls cam back into the room only this time in tiny stuffed dolls. Lirin had a anthropomorphic bird doll with a blue hoodie, and red bow tie, Nova, a anthropomorphic turtle doll, with a white ruffled shirt and grey pants, and finally Kurodo who was in a pink rabbit purse-like doll, with red suit and black tie.

"What are you staring at, Ichigo,?" The bird doll Lirin said angrily at him.

"Uh, nothing …nothing at all" Ichigo said, nervously. "Let's just get going already, alright Lirin, he said, holding out his had for her.

She looked down at it and blushed somewhat before jumping onto his hand and sitting down as he lifted her up, and placed her on his shoulder. She held on tightly as he stood upright all the way. At the same time, Orihime got a strap from Tessai and made Kurodo even more purse-like before slipping the strap around her shoulder, and Nova got onto Chad's shoulder with both merely giving a silent nod to one and other.

Finally they all left the shop, and once again split up while Yoruichi stayed behind with Tatsuki and started to see what she could do.

"Tatsuki, why don't you head down the ladder and into the training area, I'll be down in a moment, ok?" Yoruichi said to her.

Tatsuki nodded to her and preceded down the ladder while Yoruichi turned to Urahara.

"You know Kisuke, I don't I remember you saying anything about a feature for those Mod Souls that could track Reishi… an more specifically, a Bount's Reishi.. It's like you knew this would happen." Yoruichi said, crossing her arms. " You knew they would appear soon didn't you? Some how you knew in advance. Did you?"

"Who me?.. Urahara said grinning a cheesy grin. "I can not tell a lie… so I won't say anything at all"

"Somehow I figured that would be your answer." Yoruichi said shaking her head. " Well, whatever. I'll be downstairs with Tatsuki, let me know if they contact you with any info"

"Righty-oh, Yoruichi!" Urahara said, holding onto his hat's brim as he watched her disappear into the opening to the training area.

Urahara turned his head and sigh, before looking out the open shop door. "I wonder what these Bounts are up to, .. And if Ichigo and the others will be able to handle whatever it is.. I can only pray that they can"

Ichigo, Hiyori, Uryu and Lirin made there way through the city and for nearly an hour, they neither saw nor heard, or Lirin's case, sensed a Bount anywhere.

"This is ridiculous" Ichigo said, as they walked along. "Why don't we call the others, and see if their having any better luck?"

"Fine, cause this is boring as shit" Hiyori said, in agreement. "Call them up all ready"

"While I agree this is tedious, your language is … a bit inappropriate." Uryu said, adjusting his glasses. " Especially for a young lady"

"Oh yeah?" Hiyori said, looking over at Uryu. "We'll if you don't like my language, then you can shove those glasses of yours straight up your stuck up ass. If it doesn't hit the stick that's already lodged in there, that is"

Uryu chose not to respond and turned his head away. Ichigo, meanwhile had pulled out his Soul Pager and dialed up Kukaku. He put it on Speaker mode so the others could hear it.

"Hey sis, it's Ichigo, you find any Bounts yet?" He asked, into the phone. "Cause were not having too much luck here"

"We ain't found shit, little brother." Kukaku said, in a irritated voice. "I'd rather be back at Urahara's shop drinking Saki, or better yet meet your sisters and crazy dad"

"Yeah well ,I haven't had a chance to even tell them I'm a Soul Reaper yet, so one thing at a time." Ichigo said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Well you better get your ass moving on that." Kukaku replied. " Any ways I guess we keep looking for now, ..till someone finds this Bount chick. Check in later, bye for now, Ichi."

Ichigo hung up and not 5 mins. passed when Lirin head shot up and said. "A Bount, there's a Bount close by!"

"What! Where?" Ichigo said, gripping the hilt of his Zanpaktou, on his back.

"That way .. Around a block or so away! Hurry!" Lirin yelled at him.

The group ran as Lirin pointed the way, until they came upon a woman holding a man upright. She with her mouth by his neck, and dropped him to the ground as she spotted them.

"Well ,well,… some uninvited guest, interrupting my dinner" the woman said, softly. "Your as rude as those from before… especially miss Yoruichi Shihoin was."

"So you are from before, what's your name, mine is Uryu Ishida." Uryu said to her, as his energy bow was released from it's cross charm on his wrist.

"At least you have some manners. You may call me Yoshino Soma." The woman said, smiling. " And if you'll excuse me I need to get going, see you around!"

She ran out of the ally they were near, and they immediate gave chase, with Lirin tracking her. Finally the corners her in a small parking lot area behind some buildings.

"You have no where to go now lady!" Ichigo said as he and Hiyori drew their swords and pointed them forward. " Now tell why your doing this and what your plan is!"

"Who says I have a plan at all" Yoshino said, mockingly. "Perhaps I'm just doing this this because I can"

"You obviously think were stupid or something" Hiyori said, tightening the grip on her sword. " Well I got news for you , you're the stupid one if you think your fooling anyone, now what's your plan?"

"Fine I do have a plan, nut I have no reason to tell you annoying young people anything" Yoshino said to them, smiling nastily.

"Say that all you want, your not going anywhere right now" Ichigo said to her. " Not until we have a chance to chat"

"Chat? About what? If it's about asking me out, sorry, you too gentlemen are quite cute, but you're a bit to young for my taste." She said, laughing. "If it's about the plan,… your out of luck though"

Ichigo and Uryu blushed slightly before shaking their heads, and focusing in the situation.

"Stop trying to sidetrack us, damn it" Ichigo said, gritting teeth.

"Sorry, but I was hoping to get out of this without fighting, I can't stand violence, to honest." Yoshino said to them, raising her arms. " But I guess there's nothing I can say to make you change your minds. In that case,….Zeige Dich, Goethe! "

Yoshino had a metal wrist band on one wrist and a metal finger gauntlet on the other hand, that she slid against each other, creating a spark, as she spoke. After she did, a ring of fire was created and the flames shot to the ground and from the flames rose a huge amount of fire being in a human like form, with fire on it's hands and where it's legs should be.

The man-like fire creature roared at them. And turned it's head toward Yoshino. "Yoshino, you summoned me?" it asked in a deep voice.

"Yes Goethe, these three humans and that strange stuffed doll have been very annoying and rude to me, .. Please deal with them." She said to the fire creature.

"Understood, I will deal with them, now" Goethe said, to her. And faced Ichigo, Hiyori, Uryu, and Lirin.

He shot ball after ball of fire at them that exploded on contact with the ground and walls as the three ducked and dodged it the best they could. The three crouched near each other and spoke quickly.

"Ichigo, go for it's left arm ,I got its right, four-eyes, make it focus on you in the middle." Hiyori said to them in a fast manner. " Go!"

The moved out of the way just as another fire ball hit where they had just been. Uryu ignored the four-eyes comment and pulled back on his energy bow, creating an arrow. He fired out one at it to get its attention, and just as it pulled it's arms back to fire a huge fire ball at him, Hiyori and Ichigo came from both sides and simultaneously cut of his arms.

There small victory was short lived however, as both arms were still connected by fire and reattached themselves.

"Shit, he regenerated himself!" Hiyori said, in frustration.

"That's right, he is after all a being of fire" Yoshino said from behind Goethe. " He is virtually invincible, and it would be better if you gave up now"

"Never!" Ichigo said gritting his teeth. " We'll find a way to beat you, no matter what!"

"Ice, we need ice!" Ichigo said, jumping by Hiyori, "Please tell me you know an Kido ice spell!"

"I can't do the big one.. But I know a small variant of Hyouga Serian, an ice Kido" She exclaimed . "I just nee you and glasses to distract that thing!"

" Alright, Uryu, we need to distract it, I'll use my Getsuga Tensho, you use your arrow things" Ichigo said, jumping away from Hiyori and near Uryu.

"Fine, I'll fire of a number of them and you unleash your ..whatever you called it" Uryu said, readying his bow. " I'm ready when you are"

"Go!" Ichigo yelled from behind him and Uryu fired of as many arrows as he could at the creature.

After a moment of them not having too much effect, he moved to the side upon hearing Ichigo yell to him. All they heard was "Getsuga …TENSHO!" and a huge wave of black and red energy shot forward at the fire creature.

As Ichigo readied his attack , Hiyori held her hands toward the creature from the side and said the chant. " Go, great waves of unforgiving cold , and take out your enemy with no mercy in sight! Hado 37 ,Chiisai Hyouga Arashi !

A moment after Ichigo's attack fired forward, her wave of intense cold and ice shot from behind it, hidden from sight by the Getsuga Tensho until it was too late.

"Pathetic, that energy attack will never harm Goethe for very long, and it certainly wont stop him," Yoshio said, leaning against the wall from behind Goethe. "You just can't grasp the fact that you can't w-"

She was cut off as a huge wave of ice appeared out of nowhere after Goethe recovered from Ichigo's attack and struck him dead on. She barely had time to jump and roll to the ground out of the way, with her boot getting partially frozen as she did.

She held her foot , which was quite cold, and looked over for Goethe. He was frozen solid in a wave of Ice and couldn't seem to move very well, though it was burning it's was through, very slowly.

"Goethe! Damn it, you little bastards!" Yoshino said, limping near him. _This is too much I need to get out of here for now, these three , are better then I thought originally_, she though as she waited for Goethe to melt the ice out.

"It's over Lady, your little doll will take some time to get out of that, so you have no choice but to give up!" Ichigo said, smiling confidently.

But he spoke to soon as Goethe turned bright red and broke out of the ice in a ball of fire. He sunk forward as if out of breath.

"Goethe, are you alright!" Yoshino asked, in concern. " Can you still fight?"

"Yes, I can still fight them." He replied moving back upright

"Them destroy them!" She yelled, clenching her fists.

"Understood I will destroy them" Goethe said, and he moved toward them.

"Wait, on second thought, give us an exit!" She whispered to him.

He nodded and shot a huge fire ball at the ground near them, that erupted and created a wall of flame at least 25 or 30 feet high between them.

It was too hot to go through, so Hiyori and Ichigo grabbed Uryu by the arms and flash-stepped to the roof to try and get a better angle to see the Bount.

"Damn it , their gone!" Hiyori yelled slamming her fist into the near by wall. "Oww! Fuck , why did I do that!"

"Cause your a moron" Ichigo said, pulling over to him and holding her arm so he could see her fist. "It's bruising already , and even after you get it healed it's gonna hurt like hell"

"Let's get back to Urahara's for now-" Ichigo started to say, until he hears a voice from below yell out, "Ichigo, Hiyori, Uryu!, Lirin, where are you?"

"Orihime we're up here!" Ichigo yelled down. "Hold on sec though, were coming down!"

They flash-stepped back down and met up with Orihime, Rangiku, Soifon and Kurodo down below.

"Everything all right, Ichigo?" Soifon asked, in a neutral, though concerned voice.

"Yeah more or less, the Bount we fought against had a fire creature fighting for her, and it was a pain in the ass." Ichigo replied, putting his arm around Hiyori's shoulders.

" Glad to hear it, cutie... Wait what's wrong with her hand?" Rangiku asked, looking down at Hiyori.

"Oh ,uh, she injured it in battle, it just needs some minor healing, and it'll be fine" Ichigo said, answering for Hiyori. "What about you girls, you ok?, and why are you here , anyway?"

Orihime went and used her powers to heal Hiyori hand as Ichigo put his Zanpaktou on his back.

" We had to deal with a Bount that also got away" Soifon replied, clearly upset about failing. "We continued walking this way after he fled and felt your Spiritual Pressure's nearby."

"Another Bount , first there was only one, now two." Uryu said, sighing. "this is getting quite annoying and complicated as well."

"Agreed, we should regroup with the others, and think about getting some rest, we've been at this for quite some time now" Soifon said thinking for a moment. " Were all tired, especially you and your friends here , who have been at this most of the day from what I understand"

"Fine, let's go find the others ,and get some rest." Ichigo said, "Orihime are you done with Hiyori's hand?"

"Yup!, it wasn't broken, just mildly sprained!" Orihime said, smiling.

"Thanks jiggles.. I mean Orihime" Hiyori said, putting her own sword away"

"Um, yeah sure.. Hehehe" Orihime said, embarrassed at the name. "Are we ready to go, now?"

"Yeah, lets move" Ichigo said, they set out to find the others. "And find out if that human she was after is ok too"

Some distance away Yoshino and stopped to catch her breath for a moment and felt someone nearby, that she recognized.

" So he sent you, Ryo. Not surprising " Yoshino said, not turning around " You are his favorite lap dog, afterall."

"And you're his favorite failure, so were even" Ryo said, from above her, in the shadows. " Although you r probably already now this, he want's to see you, now"

" I figured as much, and luckily for you, I'm too tired to put up much of a fight at the moment" Yoshino replied, sitting down on top of a wooden crate.

"Yes .. I saw your pathetic fight against those Soul Reapers" Ryo said, grinning " You truly are a disappointment."

"Not really, I just don't like violence" She said, closing her eyes. " Can we just get going already?"

"As you wish, lets go" Ryo said, hopping down next to her. " He want's to have along talk with you , and I'm sure you'll be more then happy to see him again."

"Of course," She said, and they walked off. " As happy as a mouse is, to see a snake…"

END OF CHAPTER 28

To be continued, in chapter 29...

Till then, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon with the next chapter. Peace till then!


	29. Chapter 29

…**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 29

It was inside a massive mansion, near some woods in Karakura, and a man named Jin Kariya was dreading his conversation with the man responsible for helping him and the other Bounts achieve there goals, more then anything else in the world. He heard a sound and knew that the Sentan Hakuja technique had been activated in his private study. He turned around in his chair which was facing the window and saw Arrancar Commander, Gin Ichimaru standing there grinning.

"Knock ,knock!, guess who!" Ichimaru said in a joking manner.

"Hello Commander Ichimaru, I was expecting you" Kariya said ,sipping from his glass of red wine. " How are things in Hueco Mundo, as colorful as usual I suppose?"

"Your jokes are quite hilarious, Kariya. You asking about the colorfulness of a black and white world like Hueco Mundo?, a regular stand up comedian" Ichimaru said, folding his arms.

"You know, deconstructing a joke makes the joke pointless." Kariya said standing up.

"Yes well, it's true that I do keep getting told that I need to work on my sense of humor" Ichimaru replied. " So are you ready to go? You know how he hates being kept waiting"

Kariya sigh and walked over to Ichimaru and said "Yes I'm ready. Let's get this over with."

Ichimaru nodded and turned around facing opposite of Kariya's desk. He uttered an incantation under his breath and a moment later, the space in front of them slide open revealing a strange blackness.

"Ladies first" Ichimaru said grinning.

Kariya growled in frustration at the Commander. He was mad about the joke and that he couldn't do anything about it, not when he so badly needed the services of the Arrancars.

They walked through the gateway and it immediately closed behind them. Before him was a large throne and seated on it was the source of his frustration.

"Welcome, Jin Kariya. I've been waiting for you.." the man said. "..I don't like waiting"

Kariya noticeably shivered but Ichimaru spoke up before he could say anything himself.

"The lateness is actually my fault my lord," Ichimaru said, still grinning like a snake.

"Oh really?… well then, it appears that YOU are the one in need of keeping track of time better, Gin.. Perhaps a wrist watch is in order" The man said smiling. " Now then, give me your report ,Kariya"

Kariya bowed and looked up at the man. "Yes ,as you wish,… lord Aizen"

After Ichigo, Hiyori, Uryu, Soifon, Rangiku, and Orihime left the alley, they want and met up with Renji, Chad and Kukaku. They were all on a roof of a nearby building, and were deciding on where everyone was going to temporarily live at while they dealt with the Bounts.

"Alright then, since Uryu, Orihime, Tatsuki, Chad and me have our own houses to live at, and Hiyori stays with me, we need to figure out where the rest of you are going to stay" Ichigo said, sitting on the floor of the roof, with his legs crossed in an Indian pose. " Also, our Mod soul partners are going to stay with who Urahara already paired them up with"

"But what about me?,… and I guess eyebrow boy, Kukaku, and Captain Soifon?" Rangiku asked, pouting. "Where are we going to stay?…. How about letting me stay….with you, Ichigo?"

There was a simultaneous "Hell no!", from Ichigo, Hiyori and Lirin.

She pouted while, Soifon spoke up. " I suppose I can stay with … Lady Yoruichi or something"

"I guess I'll settle with Orihime…" Rangiku replied , somewhat sad.

"Ok… then what about you two, Renji, and Kukaku?" Ichigo asked, looking at them.

"I wanna talk to Urahara so I'll stay there, Ichigo" Renji replied, already walking off. "I'll let your friend Tatsuki know what were doing, while I'm at it"

Ichigo nodded and looked at his adopted sister for her answer. " I'm coming to your house, I wanna see my adopted little sisters you told me about". Kukaku replied, grinning. "And I wanna see this nut bag of a dad of yours while I'm at it"

"Are you serious? What am I suppose to tell him, " hey this is my older friend, who you've never seen or heard of before, I'm letting her stay for a while" Ichigo said, his arms crossed. " Something like that?"

"That or I used this" Kukaku replied, holding up a small metallic device in her hand. "This will implant memories in your family, make them think I've always been your older sister, who was away on business"

"So you think me suddenly having a third sister is all fine?" Ichigo asked, with one eyebrow raised. "…Then again, as crazy as my dad is you probably wouldn't even have to change their memories and they'd except you as part of the family.."

With the living arrangements taking care of, Ichigo, Hiyori, Kukaku and Lirin bid the others farewell and headed to Ichigo's house. After a quick stop to retrieve Ichigo's body, and Hiyori and Kukaku's Gigais , they soon arrived at Ichigo's.

Ichigo reached for the door and his dad, Isshin did a flying kick at him, to which he groaned in annoyance and closed the door , causing his dad to hit the inside of the door instead of him. There was a loud thud as he hit, and then Ichigo opened the door back up and they stepped over him.

Isshin stood up and said. " You have certainly learned well, my son… now then who the lovely lady …you ..brought …home?….." He stared wide-eyed Kukaku.

She looked at him with a similar expression on her face and at the same time, they both yelled "What are you doing here?"

"Uh…do you…know each other?" Ichigo asked, now very confused.

"Isshin… so this is where you've been all these years…" Kukaku said, still staring.

"Kukaku… long time no see…" Isshin replied, also wide-eyed still.

"Ok. What the hell is going on ? How the hell can you two know each other?" Ichigo demanded.

"Hey who's there dad?…" Yuzu asked, walking into the room. "Ichigo!"

She ran jumped on him, hugging him tightly. "Your back! We missed you so much, big brother!"

"Well, it's about time you got back, Ichigo" said, Karin, giving him a smile. "I guess I missed you a little too, but just a little. By the way, who the heck is that?"

Isshin looked over at the girls, and didn't say anything for a minute. "Hey Yuzu, Karin, why don't you … go finish up your summer home work, we need to talk in private."

They both gave him a strange look, but shrugged their shoulders and walked off anyway.

"Why don't we have a seat.." Isshin said, in a serious manner, that seemed out of place for him. "We have some thing to discuss"

Kukaku, Isshin and Hiyori sat down, but Ichigo just stood there, with his arms crossed. "I'll stand"

"Fine…. Kukaku here… is my sister in law… your mom's sister, and your aunt" Isshin said, looking downward.

"What?…. That's not possible she's from… Somewhere else…." Ichigo said, sitting down, forehead scrunch up in confusion. " The only way she could be related to us…is if…"

"Is if me and your mom came from the Soul Society.. " Isshin said, finishing his sentence for him. "We did, we eloped together and came to world of the living"

"We then had our Soul Reaper powers sealed and mostly drained away, in special Gigais, that Urahara created for us." Isshin said, continuing. " We were both Soul Reapers, ..and even though you may not want to hear it… that's… that's probably the reason your mom was killed by the Hollow, Grand Fisher in the first place, and…. why I was powerless to save her"

Ichigo stood up ,and without saying a word walked out the room and moments late they heard a door shut. Kukaku and Isshin sighed in response to this and looked over at Hiyori.

"What?.." She asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you staring at?"

"Aren't you going to go after him?, he is your boyfriend, if I'm not mistaken" Kukaku asked, looking at the short girl.

"What am I suppose to say to him?.. I'm not a touchy, feeling girl, so what can I do or say that would help him?" Hiyori asked, in a somewhat nasty tone.

"Then don't say anything at all. Just be there for him" Isshin said, to her, sitting back. "That's what he needs, and probably wants, just you there for him."

"He's right, for once….So go and find the idiot, all ready" Kukaku said to her. "Go on, damn it"

"Fine.." Was all that Hiyori said in response , before walking out of the room.

"You think he'll be ok, Isshin?" Kukaku asked, worriedly.

"I…I think so…. Then again, he is stubborn ,just like me.." Isshin replied to her. "It's a good thing he's got Hiyori…. Just like I had Masaki…"

Hiyori found Ichigo sitting on the roof top, legs straight out, and him staring into the sky. "Hey…. Ichigo." She said, walking up to him. "You want some company?"

He glanced back at her , but didn't answer. She groaned but walked closer to anyway.

"Look I'm not good at this whole relationship thing, but I… I don't feel good watching you be depressed" She said, trying to think of how to word things. "I've never had a boyfriend before you, so if I screw thing s up with what I say, …tough shit"

"The point is … I want you tell me what's wrong…. I'm….I'm worried about you,… Ichigo" She said, crouching next to him.

"Sorry I'm worrying you, …. my hime. But I …usually do better dealing with shit by myself" Ichigo said to her, still looking forward. "I appreciate the concern, really, ..but… I don't know… the thing with my mom is.. Hard to deal with"

She gulped and despite blushing deeply she stood up and walked around in front of him. He looked up at her, an wondered what she was going to do. She stood over his legs and lowered herself down till she was sitting on her knees, on top of his lap.

"What…what are you doing?" Ichigo asked turning red. "I know were going out, and all but.."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Shut up, after all this time ,there's no reason to act like a embarrassed little moron. Now do the boyfriend thing, and hold me, dumbass"

He smiled and said " So violent, Hiyori…. It's nice to see you have a girly side too"

"Shut up, moron!" she said, smacking him in the back of the head as hard as she could.

"Now then, were going to go back inside in a few minutes, and find about you.. Aunt Kukaku and ..about your Soul Reaper parents, right?" she demanded more then asked.

"Yes, ma'am" Ichigo said, sighing. "Thanks for being here for me Hiyori, and…sorry about trying to ignore you…"

"It's fine, Strawberry. Just don't do it again or I'll kick your ass, got it?" She replied, resting her chin on his shoulder.

He replied with a yes and they spent the next ten minutes talking about his mom before she dragged him back inside.

Kukaku and Isshin were drinking tea when they looked up to see Ichigo and Hiyori walk in, holding hands. Isshin wanted to make a comment but a glare from Kukaku made him forget it.

"Good to see your back…do want to continue taking now?, or do this later on, instead?" Isshin asked looking at Ichigo.

"Lets do this now ,and get it over with, old man" Ichigo said, sitting down with Hiyori sitting down on his lap, leading him to blush but not say anything otherwise.

"Alright then, as I was saying before, we had our powers sealed away by the Gigais, the same kind Urahara created for Rukia before." Isshin said, looking serious. I also know about your activities as a substitute Soul Reaper… and I've noticed your power level had grown by an insane level from before you left…. It's way above Captain level. In fact ,it's of the charts…."

"So now what?…" Ichigo asked them. "This is a lot to take in… but, I have an important mission to deal wit right now"

"The Bounts, right?" Isshin asked, Ichigo. "And before you ask, Kukaku told me about them"

"I see.." Replied Ichigo, thinking. " We don't even know what these Bounts are after at this point"

"Well I don't know a huge amount about the Bounts… I do remember something I once learned." Isshin said, standing up to stretch his legs. " I remember hearing that the Bounts demanded something from the Quincys once but they refused, and it led to the Bounts battling the Quincys. It got so bad, that Soul Reapers and Quincys teamed up temporality, to defeat them, …in fact most of the Bounts were supposedly killed off in the battle.. As far as I've heard anyway"

"But do you remember what the Bounts wanted from the Quincys so bad , that they fought against them?" Hiyori asked, leaning forward while still sitting on Ichigo's lap.

"Sorry, that was before my time" Isshin replied. "By the way, when you said this was a mission you almost made it sound like you were a official Soul Reaper or something"

"That's because I am now." Ichigo replied to his dad., in a serious tone.

His dad lust froze and said " Your.. Serious?… what rank did they put you at…?"

Hiyori answered for Ichigo, " They made him the Captain of squad 5...and I'm his Lieutenant" she said, causing Isshin's jaw to drop.

"That does it, I want to know everything that went on while you were over there!" Isshin said, looking determined. " And I do mean everything"

Ichigo and Hiyori both sigh and for the next several hours ,they went into great detail about the mission there, with some input from Kukaku along the way. After they finished talking Isshin had a lot of different reactions. He was glad Rukia was safe, Proud of Ichigo for becoming a Captain, pleased that Ichigo and his third daughter had gotten together, but also pissed at what Aizen had done and was still planning to do in the not so distant future.

"This is bad… very bad… I knew Aizen was bad news, but I had no idea he was planning something so…. Insane" Isshin said, shaking his head. " Any idea's when he's going to strike?"

"Not sure, thought the old man.. I mean, Head Captain, thinks it will be sometime soon" Ichigo replied. " I still can't believe you were a Soul Reaper and knew I was one, and didn't tell me about either"

"Yeah well….. I was going to tell you… a few years or so" Isshin said, folding his arms. " But hey, at least you know now… and when were on it ,it's not like you told me YOU were a Soul Reaper either"

"Eh!, shut up!" Ichigo replied, lowering his chin onto Hiyori's shoulder. " My legs are falling asleep, Hiyori,… your going to have to get off of me, for now"

"Since do I have to do what you tell me, Ichigo?" She said, hugging me tighter, much his embarrassment in front of his dad, and Kukaku.

"Since you became my Lieutenant. So get off of me, Lieutenant" Ichigo said, grinning. "And it's _Captain _Ichigo, remember?"

Suddenly Ichigo felt a sharp pain in neck and saw Hiyori pull back with a bit of saliva attached from her mouth to my neck.

"Ahhh! Did you bite me? .. You did!, You bit me! Why'd you bite me you little bitch?" Ichigo yelled out in pain. "And why on the neck, are a vampire or something!"

"Whatever, I'm getting hungry, when's dinner?" She asked, ignoring Ichigo's complaints.

"I bet we all are… Hey, Yuzu!" Isshin yelled.

They heard some rapid footsteps and then a voice from the top of the stairs. "Did you call dad?" Yuzu yelled down.

"Yeah, could you get started on dinner?" He yelled back.

Yuzu came down the steps and into the room. " Actually, I already have some rice steaming, and fish baking in the oven, I was going ask if I could come down and check on it"

"Oh, ok., then go ahead" Isshin replied to her. "Where's Karin at?"

Yuzu stopped on her way to the kitchen and turned around. " She went into Ichigo's room to read manga"

"I should be mad, but oh well, It's not the first time she's done this." Ichigo said, shaking his head. He stood up and walked to the bottom of the stairs. " I better go get her and tell dinner's almost ready…, you coming, Snaggletooth?"

"No, don't feel like it" She replied, plopping down on the couch. " I've had enough running around today as it is"

He sighed and walked up the stairs and down the hall, to his room. He walked in the open door and Karin was laying on his bed, reading one of his manga. "Having fun reading my manga, Karin?" Ichigo asked, smirking,

"More or less,.. This one about the orange wearing blond ninja who really likes ramen is interesting" Karin replied, not looking away from the manga volume. " So who was that woman with giant rack, is she related to Orihime?"

Ichigo sputtered a bit and said, "What?.. You shouldn't say crap like that, it's perverted!"

"So what, I'm a girl and I can comment on other girl's chest sizes if I want to… besides, you'd have to blind not to notice how Orihime's boobs are" she replied, glancing over at him. " Then again, since you only have eyes for miss flat chested Hiyori, maybe you are blind to girls with giant knockers"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response .." Ichigo replied, shaking his head. " Anyways, I'm here to tell you dinner's almost ready, and as for who that woman is, you'll probably find out at dinner.."

Dinner soon came and went, with Isshin telling Yuzu and Karin that Kukaku was his sister in law and their aunt. Even so she insisted on Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin to call her there sister, she thought being an aunt made her sound old. After dinner Yuzu and Karin did their homework, while Ichigo and Hiyori read manga, and Isshin got caught up with Kukaku. A few hours later, Karin and Yuzu went to bed, and shortly later so did Ichigo and Hiyori. While Ichigo didn't mind the bed at his Captain's quarters, he had missed his bed here, in the world of the living, and laid there for a while enjoying it, rather then sleeping right away. Hiyori on the other hand had no problem snoring away, and instead of the way she used to sleep on his bed she decided to take off just her pants and jacket, get under the covers and sleep there right up against Ichigo. She didn't give him much chance to protest either, not that he minded, he really felt himself falling in love with her, and enjoyed the warmth of her body on his.

He wasn't only awake because of nostalgia though, he was also thinking about the Bounts and what they were up to. _That female Bount.. She could have finished us off, but chose to run away instead. Was it because she didn't really want to kill us, or was it something else?… _he thought to himself.

He was about to finally go to sleep when his phone went off. He was glad it was on vibrate, so Hiyori didn't get woke up, though she slept like a rock, so it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway.

"Hello?" Ichigo said into the receiver. "Who is it?"

" Just your friendly neighborhood shop keeper!" The voice said to him.

'sigh' "Do you know what time it is, Urahara?" Ichigo asked in annoyance.

"Uh…about 11:30 or so.. Why?" Urahara asked.

Ichigo face palmed and put the phone back to his ear. "It was a rhetorical question you moron!, what do you want?"

"Oh, I knew that… anyways, I was calling to let you know that since your battle with the female Bount showed how powerful they are, it's best not to go after them in small groups anymore, instead, all of you should fight as one large group" Urahara said, calmly. "This will minimize injuries to you and maximize damage to the Bounts."

"I kind of figured that already.." Ichigo said, laying on his back. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes, just one more thing. Since we still don't know what there goals are ,if any, we be playing things by ear from now on." Urahara said, in a serious manner. " Further more, tomorrow you and your friends should return to school, and I'll contact you if anything happens."

"I see… that's fine for me, Hiyori, Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, and Uryu, but what about Renji, Soifon, and Rangiku?" Ichigo asked, wondering about his fellow Soul Reapers. " What are they going to do tomorrow?"

"They stay at my shop and be on stand by" Urahara replied, to Ichigo. "Oh, and I contacted Captain Ukitake and am have him dig through the archives in the Soul Society to see if he can find any additional information on the Bounts, hopefully he'll find something soon, I'll let you know hen he does."

"Alright, talk to you tomorrow Mr. Hat and Clogs" Ichigo said, ready to hang up and get some sleep.

"Sure thing, Ichigo" Urahara said, yawning . "By the way.. If your snuggling with Hiyori , I've heard that her ears are very sensitive and if you-"

Ichigo hung up on him, with a red face. "That guy is such a moron!" Ichigo said, quietly being angry. " Why is it so many of the grownups I know are such perverts?-"

"oof!" Ichigo yelled out in pain as Hiyori punched him in the face. "Why you little bitch!.. What? Your asleep?. Damn it..!"

Sure enough she was still snoring away and yet had managed to land a solid punch on Ichigo, just like another time with Ichigo's dad. Ichigo was mad at her, but knew it wasn't really her fault so he carefully go up and went downstairs to grab an ice pack. He got one, wrapped it in a paper towel, put it by his face and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, he awoke with his face still hurting from Hiyori. He grumbled and tried shake her awake. He suddenly heard and yell of "Good morning Ichigo!" from out side his door, followed by a thump, and a yell of pain. Ichigo snickered while Hiyori finally opened her eyes.

"Huh? It's morning?… what was that thump?" She asked, yawning.

"Yeah it's morning, and that thump was my dad, trying to kick open my door and failing" Ichigo said, answering her. "I put a lock on the inside of it so he couldn't do that kind of shit any more"

"That good, ..holy Shinto! What the fuck to happened to your face?" She asked wide eyed in concern. "You ok?"

"Not really and it happened to have been caused by you, in your sleep" Ichigo said, grumbling. " You punched me square in my face last night"

"Sorry…" Hiyori said, looked down. "I've always done that. I react in my sleep sometimes and can't help it, it's like a reflex. You want me to heal it?"

"Could you?" He asked sitting up. "By the way, your work whole thing if were going to sleep in the same bed, I don't feel like waking up with bruises every morning"

She blushed from embarrassment about hitting him and about him saying they were going to sleep together from now on.

"Hey why are blushing for? " He asked as she moved her glowing hand over his face, to heal him.

"It's.. it's nothing you idiot, now hold still" She said, her face still red. " I'm not going to make the bruising go away completely… but most of it should be gone… there, done"

"How it look?" He asked, standing up.

"You'll just have a minor bruise for a day or two, nothing major" She replied getting out of bed herself.

Despite them both seeing each other in there underwear plenty of times before, Hiyori still got somewhat embarrassed at times and often demand he turn around while she got dressed. Today was one of those days, and they face away from each other as she got on her usual track suit ( she refused to wear the school uniform again) and he got into his school slacks and dress shirt, but as usual, disregarding the tie. Once dressed they ran down stairs, grabbed some breakfast, which consisted of natto (fermented soybeans), miso soup, rice and grilled fish, all expertly prepared by Yuzu. They all chowed down, with Isshin holding his foot, sore from kicking Ichigo's door , and made there separate ways to school, with Isshin going to the clinic side of the house and Kukaku trying out some of the TV she had heard about.

Ichigo bid a fare well to his sisters, and Kukaku and him and Hiyori left out the door.

Meanwhile, across town in a mansion the Bount known as Jin Kariya, was thinking about his meeting with Aizen, and wasn't pleased about the demand the ex-Soul Reaper made on him. He decide to forget about Aizen for awhile and had Yoshino sent in to talk with her about her action of running away from him recently.

He heard a knock at his office door and bid to them to come inside. In came the Bount Ryo, holding onto Yoshino who had snakes tied around her wrists. "Welcome, Ryo, ..Yoshino.." Kariya said, smiling somewhat evilly. "You may remove her bindings and leave us, Ryo"

Ryo hesitated for a moment before complying and snapping his fingers, causing the snakes to fall of and become small bend metal pipes as they hit the floor. He then turned around and opened the door. "Your sure this little miscreant wont give you any problems?" Ryo asked, holding the door open.

"Leave ,..now" Kariya said sternly as he narrowed his eyes. "If I want your help. I would have already requested it. Don't assume to know what it is I require of you.. I'll tell you what I want you to do, until then, mind yourself."

"Yes sir, my apologies " Ryo said, before walking out and closing the door behind him.

"He is such a suck up" Yoshino said, rubbing her sore wrists." In fact, he's such a kiss-ass I'm surprised his lips are permanently glued to your ass, Jin"

"Hehehahaha.. That's quite I suppose, my dear." Kariya said, grinning "… But at least he's loyal , unlike you, who tests the limits of my patience and generosity"

"I may be a forgiving person, but I certainly can not forgive your many, many transgressions" Kariya said, walking over to his desk . So ..what to do with you, hmm?"

"I could care less about your forgiveness, I haven't down anything I consider to wrong." Yoshino said, crossing her arms. "If you have a problem with that, tough"

"I refuse to be ordered around like one of your flunkies, here" She said, continuing. "I'm not the type of person to blindly do as I 'm told, but you already knew that"

"Yes, I'm quite aware of this… however…" He said, turning to look at her. ".. Even if you do not wish to follow my orders, I cannot simply let you run around freely.. It's for your own good, you understand"

"Utagawa! Come back in here" Kariya yelled out.

Moments later, Ryo came back in ,awaiting orders. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Take Yoshino back to her cell" Kariya said, sitting down at his desk. "She needs time to think about things. But do be careful, she has delicate wrists, you know"

"Of course, I have just the thing" Ryo replied, pulling a few handkerchiefs . "These should do nicely "

He dropped them to the floor and pulled out his pocket watch. " Zeige Dich , Fried!"

His watch became a snake that slithered around his arm and looked at Ryo. "Yesssss? What isss it?"

"We just need to take care of her … and make her some more bindings" Ryo replied, petting the snake.

"I sssssee.. I exxxxpect a battle the nexxxxxt time you sssssumon me or I'll be quite mad" She replied to him, flicking her tongue.

"I promise you that will be the case." Ryo replied, and proceeded to flick the whip -like body of the snake at the handkerchiefs on the floor and make two small snakes.

He picked them up and had them slither around Yoshino's wrists and led the silently fuming woman out of the office and down to the room she was being kept at. He released the snakes and picked up the two handkerchiefs, before closing the door and locking it solidly.

She stood there, looking out the only window, which was very small. "I will get out of here .. And I will stop you , Kariya.." Yoshino said, making a fist. "… One way or another.. As soon as the next chapter starts ,that is… stupid cliffhangers"

END OF CHAPTER 29

To be continued, in chapter, 30

Sorry about the wait, but as always , I've been busy. I'm going to limit this series to one chapter every week or so, since I'm going to be doing a Naruto fan-fiction story simultaneously with this Bleach one.

Anyways, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon, so peace out till then!


	30. Chapter 30

…**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

I put up a poll for this story about Ichigo and the second girl he should get with . Please go vote, by clicking on my name at the top of the page.

Chapter 30

Ichigo and his friends were drudging through the school day and were just finishing with lunch. Tatsuki was telling Ichigo and Orihime about her training with Yoruichi.

" I'm telling you, that woman is nuts! And the things she had me do!" Tatsuki said, eating the last of her curry and rice from her bento. " I mean, she had me start with 10 laps around the training area. Do you have any idea, about how fucking big that place is! Afterwards, I was sweating like.. Like you, Ichigo, it was disgusting! My clothes were clinging to me like a second skin, for crying out loud!"

"Yeah that place is pretty big, Tatsuki." Ichigo said, nodded in agreement, as he sipped on a juice box. "And your not the only one who's ran laps there, you know"

"Yeah well , I wasn't wearing a bra at the time so it was really uncomfortable and you could see through my sweaty shirt… I'm just glad I'm only a C cup though, could have been a lot worse for someone like Orihime here" Tatsuki said, opening her own juice box, and in different to the bright red faces of Ichigo and Orihime, who tried to look away. " Good thing no one was around to see that, that's for sure"

"Oh! What is this I here about you hiding a C-cup under your uniform on me? " Asked Chizuru, coming up behind Tatsuki, drooling and aiming her hands out toward her chest. " Allow me to personally find out if you are indeed that size!"

Without missing a beat, Tatsuki took a sip from her juice ,while throwing her fist back over her shoulder and connecting with Chizuru's face. She fell to the ground with a grin on her face, and a bleeding nose.

It was aback to being peaceful again until at that moment, when Ichigo, Chad and Orihime's Bount sensing mod soul companions, Lirin, Kurodo, and Nova, alerted them to the presence of a nearby Bount.

"Are you sure there's one nearby?" Ichigo whispered to Lirin, who was hiding in his backpack.

"Yes I'm sure, you idiot. Who's the one with the Bount sensors here?" Lirin said back, annoyed, as she crossed her arms.

"Sheeze, don't get your panties in a bunch, I believe you." Ichigo said back to her in a scowl.

"Well?… move it!" she hissed at him,

He stood up and nodded to Uryu, Chad and Orihime, who stood up as well.

Tatsuki was tempted to follow them, but Ichigo, who knew her too well, turned his head to her before they walked off. "I know you wanna help, but right now, it's too dangerous Tatsuki," He said, to her, looking serious. "I know you can take care off yourself, but as powerful as these Bounts seem to be right now, I'd feel a lot better knowing you're here and safe. Please don't follow, ok?"

Tatsuki gave him a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I figure you'd want to be the tough guy ,and do it yourself…" Tatsuki said, to him sitting down to finish her juice. "Just make sure to get your ass back here in one piece, moron… and you,.. make sure you keep him safe, and in line, Hiyori. I'm counting on you."

Hiyori grinned back and nodded to her, before she, Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Uryu ran off.

As they ran off, Keigo walked into the area and saw them leaving. " Hey where are they going , why wasn't I invited, this is so unfair!" He cried out. "I just went to get a juice and they leave? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things, I mean-oof!.."

Tatsuki punched him in his stomach and sent him to the ground. " My… stomach!…" He moaned out, holding himself.

"Man, shut up, Keigo" Tatsuki said, annoyed. " You manage to complain, no matter what's going on don't you?.. And you wonder why nobody tells you anything"

As she watched her friends run off and out of sight, Tatsuki thought, _I truly hope they'll be alright… those idiots…_

Ichigo, and his friends went some distance from the school, with Lirin, Nova, and Kurodo tracking down the source of the nearby Bount. It started to rain, making it quite uncomfortable for everyone, but they ran on anyway, since it was only sprinkling and they need to deal with the Bount.

"So it is that female Bount from before, Lirin?" Hiyori asked, while running beside Ichigo. "I wouldn't mind a little payback against that bitch!"

"…. No it feels like a different Bount this time, not the woman you faced before" Lirin replied, holding on to Ichigo's shoulder tightly, as they ran. "I guess we'll find out in a moment, the Reishi of a the Bount, is coming from the park around the corner."

They all ran around the corner and after a minute of seeing no one around at all, cause of the rain and school, they spotted twin boys standing there with their hands in their pockets. They were near a fountain and were looking in Ichigo and the others direction. They were dressed nearly identical in dark grey short, and brown hoodies. Though only differences between them was their heads,( one had long hair with a white winter hat, the other had short hair with a red baseball cap).

The long haired one stepped forward a few feet. " Hey there… I'm Ban, and this is my brother Ho." He said, smiling evilly.

"I though you said there was _a_ male Bount, not two!" Ichigo said, irritated. "Is your so called Bount sensor, on the blink?"

"Our Bount sensors are working quite well, however as they are twins, it's possible their souls frequencies are very similar, which confused us" Kurodo said, while hanging over Orihime's shoulder as a purse still.

"Ignoring us?.. That's rude, isn't it Ho?" Ban said, looking at his brother.

"Yes, I agree, Ban, very rude indeed" Ho said, in reply. "If you don't pay attention to us… you may regret it, Soul Reapers.. And friends"

"Just what do you two kids want, anyway?" Ichigo said, snarling at them.

"Kids?.. You really need to learn some manners, Soul Reaper" Said Ban, taking out a water bottle. "Lets teach them a lesson Ho."

"Sounds like fun, Ban" his brother Ho said, taking out his own water bottle. " And look, it's raining.. That means lots of fun…at least for us.."

Ho held his bottle forward and untwisted the cap. "Zeige Dich ,Guhl!"

Ban then held his own bottle forward and untwisted his own bottle cap. " Zeige Dich, Gunther!"

The water in the fountain behind them flowed forward and engulfed the two bottle caps in water in the shape of two eyeballs.

"What the hall are those?" Ichigo exclaimed, as he and Hiyori pulled out the Gikongan pills and swallowed them. "Are those bottle caps, there dolls?.."

"Looks like it, Ichigo" Hiyori replied, they transformed into Soul Reapers. "This is going to be a pain in the ass"

They told there bodies to get back to the school for now and at the same time, Chad activated the armor on his arm, Orihime put her arms forward ,ready to use her Shun Shun Rika, and Uryu, readied his energy bow.

"So are you here to test us in battle?" Uryu asked, as he readied a energy arrow. "Or is there another reason?"

"A battle?…. How pathetic" Ban said, grinning. "Why would we test ourselves…."

"….Against such weak opponents ?" Ho said, finishing his brother's sentence. " No, we have a different reason for being here"

"We want you, Quincy, to come with us" Ban said, still grinning. "Our leader, a man named Jin Kariya, would like a word with you"

"Oh really? And just what makes you think we'll hand him over to you two, little brats?" Ichigo said, pulling Zangetsu off of his back.

" And what makes _you _think we were asking him?" Ho asked. "Either he comes with us, or we kill you…"

"…And take him by force" Ban finished. " So make your move, Soul Reapers"

"Butcher them, Kubikiri Orochi!" Hiyori cried, transforming her Zanpaktou into it's released form. "Let's take down these brats, and stop wasting time!"

"Go, Guhl, Gunther show these fools, how to behave" Ban said, crossing his arms.

The water dolls shot forward at the group at speeds. Ichigo and Hiyori jumped to one side to avoid them, but they ignored them and went straight for Uryu. He saw them coming and quickly fired an arrow at them. The arrow went right threw them however and before he could react, the water encased his whole body.

"Uryu!" Orihime yelled in panic. " Hold on, were coming!"

Ichigo and Hiyori both swung their Zanpaktous at the water dolls around Uryu, but the blades just open a gap for a mere moment, as you would expect water to react to a sword.

"Damn, that had no effect!" Ichigo said angrily, standing in front of the water dolls.. "We have to get him out of there before he drowns!"

"Move!" A male voice yelled. " Hado 31, Shakkaho Red Flame Cannon!"

A small red ball of energy shot forward at the dolls and a small explosion occurred causing, the dolls to drop and move away from Uryu, seemingly in pain.

"Gunther, Guhl !" The twin Bount cried out. " How dare you hurt them, you red haired, freak!"

Ichigo and Hiyori looked behind them to see who had freed Uryu, and found Renji standing there, grinning like a madman. "Yo, Ichigo, Hiyori, aren't you gonna thank me for saving you asses?"

Hiyori and Ichigo looked at each other briefly before both giving Renji the middle finger. Renji grumbled about ungrateful dumbasses, before pulling his sword out of it's sheath and walking up to join the others.

Rangiku on the other hand, who had arrived with Renji, flash stepped by Uryu, grabbed a hold of him and disappeared. She reappeared a moment later, next to Ichigo and the others, with Uryu.

"Thanks for the help, Rangiku!" Orihime said, smiling.

"No problem, Orihime, glad to help" Rangiku replied, pulling out her own Zanpaktou. "So, who are the two kids? Bounts?"

"Why does everyone call us kids!" Ho yelled, in frustration. "Ban, it's starting to downpour, we should strike now ,while the chance is present"

"Right! Gunter, Guhl Merge!" Ban yelled, grinned wildly at Ichigo and his friends. " Say goodbye, losers"

The two water dolls flowed into one, and became a huge, blob of water with watery tentacles lashing out. Several of the water tentacles shot down at the Ichigo and Hiyori, who were the closest. The flash steeped out of the way, and the tentacles smashed up the ground where they struck. As soon as they reappeared more water tentacles shot at them. This happened several times before Ichigo and Hiyori got out of range of them. There were now large parts of the ground that were smashed into chunks of cement and steel rebar.

"Damn that ground was almost us!" Hiyori said, wide-eyed, while crouching next to Ichigo.

"Yeah, I know, how the hell is that water able to do that?" Ichigo asked out loud. " I know water is strong, but that's insane"

"It's not really that surprising, Ichigo" Uryu, said, adjusting his glasses. " At high enough speeds and pressure, water can cut through steel, like butter"

"..Uh, I knew that…" Ichigo said, turning his head. "But is that going to be enough to stop these Bounts?"

"Not one blast alone… but maybe we can turn that thing into vapor" Rangiku said, gripping her Zanpaktou.

"Good idea, but in case you haven't noticed ,it's pouring right now" Ichigo said, readying his sword. "I think that the rain is fueling those water dolls"

"It seems he's not as stupid as he looks" Ban said, grinning.

"Or perhaps he is and just got lucky?" Ho said, laughing. "Either way, your right Soul Reaper, with al of this water to fuel Gunther and Guhl, you have no chance of winning."

"We suggest you simply give up the Quincy" Replied this brother, Ban. " We won't ask so nicely again."

"So what do we do?" Chad asked, clenching his armored hand. "….We need to lure them to some where inside, where there's no water"

"Chad right, and I might have something that can help… but I'll need time to prepare it" Uryu said, grabbing his school bag he had brought with him. " Can you buy me some time, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Probably… how long?" Ichigo asked, looking over at him.

"Hmm.. I've been practicing ..so.. Can you give me about 10 minutes or so?" Uryu replied after thinking for a moment. "Maybe less, if I hurry"

"Just what are you planning , four-eyes?" Hiyori asked in curiosity. " It better be really good, if we need to wait that long"

"Trust me, it will indeed be good" Uryu replied ,before deactivating his energy bow. " Lead them to the nearby hospital, it's abandoned, and should be plenty dry, the water was shut off year ago"

"Right, I'll make a smoke screen for us and then we'll all flash-step run for there and you split off when we get inside" Rangiku said, nodding to him. "Everyone take a partner who can't use flash step, I'll take Orihime"

"Hey, creepy twins! We handing over anybody, and if you want him bad enough …" Ichigo said, getting ready to flash-step, while grabbing onto Uryu. " .. Then come and take him!"

"What are you doing Soul Reaper!" Ban asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rangiku had Orihime stand by her and then she crouched and put her palms on the ground in front of them. " Bakudo 21, Sekienton !"

A huge cloud of red smoke erupted and spread out hiding them. The twins moved back, coughing and waving there hands in the air. The smoke quickly dissipated because of the rain, but when it did fade away, Ichigo and the others were gone from sight.

"Damn it! They actually got away!" yelled Ho to his brother. "They said, something about a hospital….there's one near here, if I remember correctly"

"They might be setting a trap… but we have no choice.." Replied, Ban. "We have our orders. Follow them!"

They resealed their dolls and put the caps back on the bottles. Then they ran towards the abandon hospital to find their targets.

As soon as Ichigo and the others arrived at the hospital, Uryu told them where the large basement parking lot was. Uryu then went up the stairs with Rangiku, who said she would protect him in case the Bounts came after him, while their friends went to the parking area. As they ran to the parking lot Ichigo said , "He had a good idea, but how the heck does he know so much about this hospital?"

"I think this use to be owned by Uryu's family" Orihime said, as they ran down the stairs. "Didn't the old sign outside say Karakura Great Ishida Hospital?"

"It did?.. Damn four-eyes must be well off, huh?" Hiyori said, glancing to the side as they went down another flight of stairs. " Though not too well, off if this place was shut down."

"I think this Hospital's location moved and is called Karakura General now" Chad told them, running next to Orihime. "… but we should focus more on those twin Bount's now"

"Chad's right, we gotta get ready to hold those two here and keep there attention on us ,and off of getting Uryu for a while" Renji said, as they reached the end of the stairs.

They all opened and ran through the door. They ended up in a large and very empty parking lot. They were close to the exit ramp that led outside for cars.

" Now that were here, we better get ready for those freak jobs" Renji said, pulling out his Zanpaktou, while Ichigo, Hiyori, and Rangiku did the same.

"Look at the freaks, calling us freaks, brother" Said Ho, as he and Ban walked down the ramp and into the open.

"I know, Ho, anyone with those eyebrows has no right to call anyone else such a thing" Ban replied, already taking out his water bottle and taking off the cap. "No more playing… the Quincy isn't with you,…"

"…So we'll kill you first, and find him afterwards." Ho said, finishing for his brother. " Now then, Gunther, Guhl, get ready!"

The water dolls, came down the path of the car ramp and stood beside Ban and Ho. "Go"

The dolls shot forward at Ichigo and the others, and whipped their water tentacles at them. Everyone jumped out of the way and readied their respective weapons. Orihime put her hands by the side of her head, near her Shun Shun Rika hair pins. "Chad I'll make a shield, and you fire at it" She yelled to him. "Use the shield as cover"

"Right" Chad replied running over to her.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Orihime yelled and created her triangle shaped shield. "Go Chad!"

Chad dove behind it and activated his armored arm. He moved to the edge of it and held his arm forward. A large blast of white spiritual energy shot forward at the twins, which the dolls intercepted. The dolls fell apart for a moment but quickly reformed a few moments later.

"Damn he hurt Gunther and Guhl…" Ban said, angrily. "But that giant is protected by that shield…."

"…Which is created by that girl" Ho finished. "Take out that girl, Guhl!"

Guhl separated from Gunther's side and raced to the side. It came racing to the far left and shot straight for Orihime. Chad fired off another energy blast at it ,but this time it dodged it and knocked him out of the way and into the far wall with a water tentacle.

"Chad!, Orihime!" Ichigo yelled, looking over in their direction. " Hold on !"

He tried to flash-step over to them but was blocked by the doll Gunther. Meanwhile Orihime was knocked down by Guhl but before she could get up and get away, the doll enclosed her head with water, choking her.

Renji ran over near Orihime pulled his Zanpaktou to in front of him. "Roar, Zabimaru!" He yelled, transforming his sword into it's segmented form and swinging forward. "Run as soon as you can , Orihime!"

The segmented blades slashed through and knocked away the water orb, cracking the bottle cap in the process. Orihime dropped to her knees immediately and was cough and gagging. Reni helped her up and flash-stepped away with her.

At the same time Ho collapsed to his knees and held his sides. "Uhhhg!, that bastard!" Ho said, in pain.

"Ho!" Ban said, kneeling beside his brother. "We need to end this, and find the Quincy"

"Gunther, Guhl together!" Ban yelled, standing up. " Use your Machine gun style water whip attacks!"

Guhl reformed and joined it's companion, Gunther, near the twins. They combined into the water monster again with both bottle cap in one giant ball on top and started shooting their water whips forward at high speeds towards Ichigo, Hiyori, Renji, Orihime, and Chad. Just before they reached them, however they heard a female voice yell, "Growl, Haineko!" and a huge wave of ash like substance formed a moving wall in front of them, blocking the water whips.

They all turned and saw Rangiku standing there holding a bladeless sword hilt in her hands and Uryu standing there, beside her, wielding a large white and dark blue bow in one hand.

"Get ready to drop the barrier" Uryu said, readying his bow. " This is the first time using energy arrows from this true bow"

"So you'll only get one shot?" Rangiku asked, concentrating on keeping the water dolls whips away.

"Pretty much, and I'll need to go and practice more as soon as we finish this" He replied, gathering Reishi in his hand. " On the count of 3, drop it and tell them to move out of the way"

She gave a simple "Right" but kept her head forward. Uryu formed a large energy arrow and pulled it back , ready to fire. "1…2...3!"

"Ichigo , everyone move, now!" Rangiku yelled, as she removed the ash storm and returned it to blade form on her hilt.

As she did, Uryu released the arrow forward and at shot forward at high speeds, catch the dolls of guard. Before they could move, the energy arrow broke the water apart, and completely destroyed the bottle caps.

Both twins fell to the ground and yelled in pain. They aged right before everyone's eyes and turned to dust blowing away into the night. The water fell away, and onto the floor. Everyone sighed in relief, and Hiyori went so far as to fall onto her ass, and lay down on the ground. "I need some rest, like you wouldn't believe!" She said, staring up at the ceiling. "And if I ever see another set of twins again, I think I'm going to go crazy"

The others couldn't help but laugh in agreement with Hiyori's statement. Ichigo sat down next to Hiyori and sighed.

"Damn , glad that's over…" Ichigo said, laying down himself and putting his head next to Hiyori's side. " I'm kind of tired.. And we still got school to go back to… if it's even going on today still. Good thin me and Hiyori sent our Gikongan controlled bodies in our place."

"Yeah you, said it, Strawberry" Hiyori said, absently playing with Ichigo's hair. " I could use a nap about now"

"We gotta go collect out bodies and get home for now" Hiyori said, sitting up.

"But why did they want Uryu here, in the first place?" Rangiku asked, putting Haineko away in it's sheath. " Did they say anything before me and Renji arrived?"

"Come to think of it, they said, they wanted their boss some guy named…uh, kari …kaya… some guy, wanted to talk to him" Ichigo said, scratching his head. " That's about all We got out of them"

"I think they said their bosses name was Jin Kariya" Orihime said, putting a finger on her chin. "Yeah that was it, Jin Kariya…"

"Kariya?… does that name mean anything to you, Uryu?" Rangiku asked, leaning against a support pillar.

"Not at all. I'm quite good with names…" Uryu replied, looking over at her. "… and that's not a name I've ever heard of"

"Hmmm… maybe somewhat in the Soul Society is.." Rangiku said, thinking.

"But I though stuff on the Bounts were wiped from the records?" Ichigo said, standing back up, and pulling Hiyori up with him. " Doesn't that mean anyone around today will have no knowledge of the Bounts, … well beside what's passed around unofficially?"

"That's possible, but there's always dome kind of unofficial record kept on these things" Rangiku replied. " Even if the Bount incident was stricken from the record.. Information must still exist somewhere on them"

"That means going back to the Soul Society, right?… Man I've done nothing but fight since I got here, on what was suppose to be time off to tell my family about me" Ichigo said, groaning. " Besides, where are we going to find this info anyway?"

"The record room, of course" She said back to him. "And I'm sure Captain Ukitake will help us in this regard. Or help you rather, Ichigo"

"Why me?" He asked, back, confused. " Why don't you do it… or are you just trying to skip out on work like Toshiro told me about"

"Not at all, but your close friends with Rukia from his squad" She said, walking forward. "He won't turn down the request of a friend of one of cherished squad members"

"And aren't you friends with him anyway?" Renji asked, throwing his two cents in. " Just go back and ask him to help you,… the sooner you do, the sooner we can find out where the Bounts headquarters is, and take the fight to them"

"As well as find out what they want with Uryu too" Chad said, from beside Orihime. "well still be hear when you come back, Ichigo you don't have to worry"

"I.. I know you'll still be here, sheesh.." Ichigo said, putting Zangetsu on his back. "I guess I'll go then…. Hiyori, I want you to stay here though"

"What? Are you out of your fucking mind?" Hiyori screeched at him. " I'm your lieutenant! And rule clearly state that a Captain must accompany their Captain at all times unless it's ordered by the Head Captain or central 46!.. Besides…"

"I'd … you miss you,.. kind of" Hiyori said in a much smaller voice , while standing close to him. "Do I have to stay here?"

"I'll miss you too, snaggletooth" Ichigo said, crouching and pulling her into a hug. " And yes you have to stay.."

"Yeah….just stop embarrassing me, moron" She said trying to act mad, but couldn't with bright red cheeks. " You better hurry your ass back here… and .. You owe me an awesome date…, yeah a date, you got that, dipshit?"

"Anything my little snaggletooth wants" Ichigo replied grinning, while messing her hair up with his hand. " Just behave , don't kill anyone on our side, even if there really annoying, and…make sure Rangiku, Renji and Mr. Hat and Clogs do their fair share of work"

"I'll let Urahara know what we learned here, when I head back to his shop" Renji said, resealing his Zanpaktou. "Good luck, Ichigo"

Hiyori fixed her, hair, which wasn't hard with it being in pigtails, and nodded to Ichigo. " Thanks, Renji. I'm going to go grab my body, and I'll leave yours at Urahara's, Hiyori" Ichigo said, running off. "See ya guys, and gals soon"

"Make sure you leave it with Tessai!, not Kisuke!" She yelled to him. "I don't want that pervert Kisuke doing anything weird to my Gigai while I'm away from it!"

Ichigo gave a wave back to her and ran to the school to grab his Gigai. Tatsuki had been helping make sure no one suspected it wasn't the real Ichigo and Hiyori. He thanked her, told her about how he had to go get some info about the Bounts from the soul Society and left to Urahara's with his body and Hiyori's Gigai in tow.

He arrived at Urahara's a short time later and told him about Rangiku's idea.

"Hmm sound like a good idea, Ichigo.. But you never learned how to use a hell butterfly, did you?" Urahara asked, looking at him." well it's easy to use really… and Since your so highly spiritually aware, it'll be easy for you"

Urahara had Ichigo open a Senkaimon , which he managed after a few dozen unsuccessful tries. The gate opened and after a moment of Ichigo flaring his Spirit energy, like Kisuke had told him to, not one but two black Hell Butterflies flew out around him.

"Took you a lot of tries to open the gate, but you got the hell butterfly summoning right on the first try, very nice" Kisuke said to him ,grinning. "Though next time you might wanna use less spiritual energy, so you only summon one Hell Butterfly, not two"

"I'll have to remember that for my return trip" Ichigo said, sheepishly. "I'll get going now… see ya!"

Ichigo traveled through th walkway, and a short time later emerged on the other side, and was greeted by hi 3rd seat, Akira Tanaka.

"Well, look who's taking the initiative, nice work" Ichigo s aid, giving the strange girl a smile. "So you're here to escort me back to the barracks?"

"….I guess so, …sir" The blue and red haired girl replied, before yawning. " And anyways, I had to come, as the next highest ranking officer in the squad"

"I see, so your just as lazy as usual?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"….Pretty much" Akira replied, leading to the Barracks. " So what's going on the world of the living?"

"You mean about the situation with the Bounts?" He asked, looking down at the short girl.

"…What's a Bount?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know there's some kind of situation , but nothing specific has been said, to any of the squads"

"Figures… officials trying to cover shit up" He said, shaking his head. "Even though I do have some business with the Captain of Squad 13, Jushiro, I think I'll go back to the barracks first, and let everyone know about these Bounts…or at least as much as we know so far"

"Cool… were almost there, anyways" Akira replied, moving a few stray blue and red hairs behind her ear. "Sp how is the world of the living.. I've heard a lot about it, but never went there, except once for a training exercise, back in the academy"

"That's the only time you've been there?" Ichigo asked in surprise, as the walked around the corner.

"Yup…" She replied, simply . " I would like to go there again, some day"

"Well then you can come with me, when I go back" He said, looking forward. " After I gather some more info on these Bount characters, that is… you help me with that?"

"You'll take with you?.." She asked, uncharacteristically wide-eyed. " … I'd… I'd like that. And yeah I guess I'll help you with your research, Captain"

"Appreciate it, Akira" He said, smiling as they reached the doors to his barracks. " And call me, Ichigo, not captain, remember?"

She nodded with a tiny smile. "Right,… Ichigo"

They slid open the doors, and walked inside. Ichigo put his Zanpaktou against the wall and turned to Akira. " Call the other suad member in, would you?" He asked, sitting on the floor in cross-legged fashion. "I wanna share what I found out so far about the Bounts with everyone"

She nodded , and walked off to do her task. As she walked down the hall she saw two squad member s , one tall and muscular ,the other average height, but really skinny, standing and talking.

"Hey it's the Captain's pet, Third Seat Akira" Said, the tall one. "She thinks she's so high and mighty too"

"Yeah, she does and yet she's so damn weak it's not even funny" Replied the skinny Soul Reaper, laughing. " She's ask worthless as our new Captain .. I mean takes a vacation after just becoming Captain?.. Guy's got some nerve if you ask... What?"

Akira disappeared from sight for a moment and reappeared in front of them. She thrust her hands outward and grabbed them both by the necks, squeezing them.

With eyes as cold as steel, she said, "I me be an easy going person.. But say anything about me or Captain Kurosaki, the only person who's ever shown any care for me again…"

She slammed them against the walls so hard, their heads left huge dents and cracks in the wall. "…And you'll be eating through a straw…. Or maybe not at all" She finished, before letting go of them.

They slid down the wall and collapsed on the ground, unconscious. She walked away to get the rest of the squad who were in the squad 5 training grounds. To the outside observer, she would appear to be a loose cannon, but in fact she was just protecting her new captain. Every other squad she had been in , all 6 of them, had tossed her aside because of her uneasiness around people and a medication that caused her to be tired and not with a lot of energy most of the time. Captain Kurosaki was willing to help her ,be kind to her, and show interest in her as a human being. Something most of her former her former captains, outside of her very first, weren't . She intended to protect his image to repay him, by just about any means.

END OF CHAPTER 30

To be continued, in chapter, 31

I know it's been a long wait again but as usual , I've been busy. I'm doing a Naruto fan-fiction story simultaneously with this Bleach one. As well as working on some stuff for my comic submission, so I haven't been able to set aside as much time as I would like to this .

Anyways, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon, so peace out for now!


	31. Chapter 31

*****Not a chapter*****

I'm not sure If people saw the stuff I added to the top of chapter 30, but I it says I have a poll up about which other girl, along with Hiyori, should Ichigo get with, I need to have votes before I can write more chapters, please vote, everyone. Just click on my name and you'll see where to click to vote.


	32. Chapter 32

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 31

Ichigo had gone to Captain Ukitake after explaining some things to his squad. He left his third sear, Akira in charge again before leaving to get his investigation underway. He didn't know the way to Rukia's squad, but as a captain, he knew any soul reaper in the area world know.

He stopped the first fellow Soul Reaper he found and asked him where the barracks for squad 13 was. The Soul Reaper told him the directions, but Ichigo wasn't good with directions and just went in the general direction and hoped to find his way as he went along. After about ten minutes, Ichigo still hadn't found the barracks, but as he stopped to think for a moment he heard a voice from below him. He looked down and to his surprise found Rukia standing there, looking up at him.

"Ichigo…long time no see" Rukia said, smiling up at him. " What brings you around here?"

Ichigo jumped down and landed next to her. "I'm looking for Jushiro, actually"

Rukia blinked a few times, not use to hearing her Captain's first name. " Oh, you mean Captain Ukitake?.." She asked, looking up at him. "What do you need to see him for?"

"I need his help on investigating a group of strange enemies, called Bounts" Ichigo replied, looking down at her. " Is he in?"

"Uh yeah as far as I know.." She replied, to him, " But, what's a "Bount"?

"I'm surprised you don't know.. I'll fill you in along with Jushiro, in a minute, instead of explaining a third time" Ichigo said, turning away. "Will you show me the way?"

"A third time?…. Uh oh, yeah, sure. Follow me" Rukia said, leading the way to her captain's office.

After about five minutes, they arrived at Ukitake's office. Rather then simply waling in, like Ichigo would to most places, he actually knocked announced him and Rukia. They walked and found Ukitake coughing a bit.

"Oh Ichigo *cough* Rukia, please come in" He said, covering his mouth as he coughed. " so * cough, cough * what brings you here?"

"Well I was going to ask you for some help, but your obviously not feeling well right now.." Ichigo said, looking at him sympathetically. " I can ask someone else , instead"

"*Cough* nonsense I was actually coughing a lot more and had to lie down earlier this morning, I'm actually felling better, *cough, cough, cough*" Ukitake said, sipping some of his hot tea. "If your willing to wait till tomorrow, I'll help you with what ever it is you need then. By the way, what did you need help with , anyway?"

Ichigo explained what had happened to him and his friends , as well as what Urahara had told him about the Bounts already. "And it was suggested that we might find something at the records building" Ichigo, said, finishing. "I was told you might be able to help."

"I see… well * cough, cough, cough* tomorrow morning about…. 9, come back and well go there together." Ukitake said, smiling. " How's that?"

"Thanks, I'll come back then, Jushiro" Ichigo said, walking towards the door. " See ya!"

"Hey Ichigo, where are you going for now?" Rukia asked, following him out the door.

"Hmmm…. Probably train a bit, I guess, why?" Ichigo asked, turning to look at her. "Why? Did you need something?"

"Well, we haven't had much time to spend time together since you became captain, so I thought we could do something fun" Rukia said, looking up at him. " Maybe train together for a while ,and then go grab something to eat"

"Um ,yeah sure if you want to, come on" He said, smiling and walking away.

"So where are we going to train at, Ichigo?" Rukia, asked walking fast to catch up with him.

"To be honest, I'm not sure… I guess where we end up at, like the closest set of training grounds" Ichigo , said, looking forward as they walked.

Rukia kicked him in his ass, causing him to stumble forward.

"What the hell, Rukia?" Ichigo yelled at her. "Why did you just kick me in my ass?"

"Because of your stupid plan, moron" Rukia yelled back at him. "You can't just go train in any training grounds you want!"

"Then why did you ask me where we were going?" He said, narrowing his eyes.

"I assumed you would pick somewhere like your squad's grounds, or at Kukaku Shiba's place" She replied ,back, crossing her arms. " I guess I should have known, even as a captain of the 13 Court Guards, your still helpless"

"Bite me, midget" Ichigo replied, looking away. "So where do you suggest we train?"

"How about at squad 2, barracks, Captain Kurosaki?" Said another female voice.

Ichigo and Rukia looked over and saw Soifon standing there.

"Soifon?.. What are you doing back here?" Ichigo asked, confused. " I though you were going to stay there?"

"I was ,but I needed to check on my squad," She replied, giving a small smile. "But I wouldn't mind training with you some more."

"Oh.. Ok. I guess we were going to train together again ,weren't we" Ichigo said, thinking for a sec. " So why don't you lead the way to the training grounds, then"

"Sure, follow me, you two" Soifon replied, leaping onto the roof.

They darted across the rooftops for a short while till they reached her squad barracks. They jumped down and Soifon opened her office door, leading Ichigo and Rukia inside.

"I need to make sure my incompetent loser of a lieutenant, Omaeda is actually working instead of laying down like the lazy slob that he is" Soifon said, putting down her Zanpaktou on her desk top. " Can you two wait here for a few minutes while I go check on him and my squad?"

"Sure, I guess" Ichigo said, sitting in Soifon's captain chair. "Hurry up though, I wanna get started"

"Keep your horses on, Ichigo, I'll be right back" Soifon said, walking to the door.

"I think the expression is suppose to be hold your horses" Ichigo said, giving a grin.

"I..I knew that… Just wait here" Soifon said, ever so slightly embarrassed as she walked out the door. "And don't be a smart ass, either"

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh a bit, after she closed the door and left. Rukia was slightly confused by this though.

"Since when does Captain Soifon have a sense of humor?" Rukia asked, sitting in the only other chair in the room. " It doesn't really fit with her image or reputation"

"Really?.. I think she has a fun side, underneath her cold exterior, like you just saw" Ichigo said, putting his feet up on the desk. " She just needs to show it more often. In fact…she's a lot like Hiyori"

"Oh really?… I guess I see it somewhat" Rukia said, agreeing with him.

Soifon meanwhile, went and found her squad doing training exercises while, just as she had expected, she found her lieutenant sleeping in the shade. She shook her head in embarrassment at his actions.

"Your really a pathetic excuse for a person, you know that" She said, standing above him.

He opened his eyes ,and when he saw her, quickly sat up and fell of the walkway. "Captain!.. I wasn't sleeping, I was…resting from training so hard, yeah that's what it was" Omaeda said, sitting up on the ground.

"Oh shut up, you lazy moron, why do you feel the need to lie to me about these things?" She said, putting her hands on her hips. "It's quite obvious to anyone that you were slacking off as usual, why bother hiding it?"

"Uh.. I .. that is I" He stuttered out tin response.

"Go do you rounds of here and the Stealth Force HQ area, you moron" Soifon said, in disgust. "Go, before your punished for your laziness!"

He quickly ran off, dropping his Zanpaktou once, before going off out of sight.

She held her face as she shook it in annoyance of him before calling out to her third seat. He walked up, and crouched in front of her on the ground.

"Yes, captain?" He said, looking down at the ground.

"Keep the squad training for another hour before taking a break and going about your own duties." She said, in a neutral tone. " Even if Omaeda comes back her before the end of the hour , your in charge till I get back."

"Yes captain, I will not fail you" He said, bowing his head .

"Unlike my lieutenant, I have every confidence in your abilities, third seat" She replied to him. " At times I wish someone like you were my lieutenant, instead of him… in any case, I'll be using the Stealth Force training grounds with a friend of mine, make sure were not interrupted unless it's important"

He nodded to her, before standing up and walking over to the squad, to relay her orders to them. She quickly mad her way back to her office to retrieve Ichigo and Rukia.

She made it to her door and was about to open it when she heard them talking inside.

"Admit it Ichigo, you like Captain Soifon as much as you like Hiyori" She heard Rukia say loudly.

"Well I ..that is.. Maybe I do" Ichigo then responded. "But I'm dating Hiyori, and I'm not about to cheat on her"

"I never said you would or even should, I just wanted you to admit it, that's all" Rukia replied. " And I have a good feeling she likes you too"

A red-faced Soifon heard Ichigo cough and sputter in response to this statement. " How do you know?.. I mean are you sure?" Ichigo said ,after a minute. " So what , It's not like anything will happen, even if we both wanted it too…right?"

"How should I know? What do I look like, your personal love life consultant?" Rukia exclaimed back to him.

"No, you look like a raven haired, somewhat annoying midget" Ichigo said back to her playfully.

"Shut up moron" Rukia replied back to him. "I'm not short, your just tall"

Figuring the love talk was over ,and having gotten rid of most of her blush, Soifon opened the door, and walked in. Ichigo blushed a little as she entered, and she turned her head to try to hide her own blush from them.

"I see your making yourself comfortable, Ichigo" She said, crossing her arms. " Do you mind taking your feet of my desk, strawberry?"

He quickly took his feet of the desk top and stood up, smoothing out his uniform. "Uh, yeah ,sorry about that" He said, sheepishly. "Are we ready to go train?"

"Yes, we'll be using the private Punishment Force division's training grounds." Soifon replied, picking up her sword and putting it back on her waist. " Come on, lets get moving you two, it's not far."

The three of them made there way off to the Stealth Force HQ area and were met by a female ninja garbed member of the Stealth Force.

"Captain" The Soul Reaper said, crouching in front of her.

"Me and my friends here ,will be using the training grounds here for a while" She said, to the woman. " Make sure were not disturbed, unless necessary"

The female Stealth Force member looked up and seemed confused. "Captain?… the Stealth Force grounds are restricted to our members only" She said, still crouching. "Not even Squad 2, who we are blended with, are allowed to use these training fields"

"I don't recall asking you to let me. I am Commander of the Stealth Force and I dictate the rules here not you" Soifon said, in a angry tone. " Do not make me repeat my instructions to you"

"But sir, I-"

"I think you heard her, clear enough no do your duties" Ichigo said, walking forward, and standing next to Soifon.

"Someone like you has no business being here ,let alone as a Soul Reaper at all" The female squad member said, in a annoyed tone, as she stood up, crossing her arms. "Further more, you are not my leader and have no say here , fool"

Soifon was pissed at her Squad member and was about to react when Ichigo flash steeped from sight, reappearing behind the Squad member with his eyes closed, where he shoved the squad member's own sword into the ground. The squad member barely had time to say anything.

"How did you?…" She started, before her belt fell apart, and her black ninja pants fell around her ankles, revealing a pinkish pair of underwear.

The squad member's face turned bright red as she pulled up her pants, grabbed her sword and flash-stepped out of sight.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Ichigo asked, his eyes still shut.

"Yeah, go ahead, pervert" Rukia said, laughing with a reddish face.

"I'm not a pervert, I kept my eyes closed the entire time…. By the way.." Ichig osaid, opening his eyes and turning around. "Sorry about doing that to your squad member, but she was being disrespectful to you and me as well"

"I suppose I should be mad, but to honest, that was quite.. Amusing" Soifon said, with red cheeks. " Though next time, just stealing her sword or knocking her done might be better"

"I'll have to remember that… and would both of you mind not mentioning this incident to Hiyori?, she'd probably kill me, even if I didn't see anything" Ichigo said, grinning. "She we go train now?"

"Sure,… unless you plan on de-pantsing me as well that is" Soifon said, playfully to him.

She and Rukia walked past a red-faced Ichigo, who waited there for a moment before shaking his head and running after them. They walked through the front gate and after a few minutes, arrived a vast, but enclosed training field.

"Damn this place is huge!" Ichigo exclaimed looking around. " It's even bigger then Urahara's…in fact it kind of reminds me of his training area… and Yoruichi's too.. Wonder why"

"I have no doubt of that, simply because Lady Yoruichi modeled her private training area after this one.. And Urahara did the same for the one beneath his shop" Soifon said, taking off her Captain's Haori. "Now, enough talk. Let begin training Ichigo, Rukia"

"Sure I guess" Ichigo said, taking off his own Captain's Haori. "I feel kind of weird wearing that thing but…whatever. So what kind of training are we going to do here, Soifon?"

"Hmmm… how about free training for now. Anything goes to take your opponent down, out side of killing them?" Soifon asked, getting into a defensive stance. " Everyone for themselves"

"That's fine with me" Rukia said, drawing her Zanpaktou. " Does that include using Kido?"

"Sure ,but only restricting spells and no use of Bankai" Soifon replied, pulling her own Zanpaktou from it's sheath. " You can release your Zanpaktou as well, Rukia, since Ichigo's is in constant release state. I won't be releasing mine however, it's too dangerous to use in training"

Ichigo and Rukia nodded and readied themselves for the match, before flash-stepping away from each other.

"Wait a second, Rukia, did your powers return to full strength already?" Ichigo asked, holding his Zanpaktou in two hands.

" For the most part, yes." Rukia said, also holding her sword in hand. " I can only do the first attack of my sword in release form, but I'm close to being able to do the second attack again…maybe a few days I think, maybe sooner."

"Besides, I can more then handle myself even, in sealed form" She said, smiling ,confidently. "Now enough talk, or are you already giving up, strawberry?"

Ichigo growled and gripped his hilt waiting for Rukia to release her sword. He didn't have to wait long though, for only a moment passed before the cry of "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" came from Rukia mouth, signifying the three way battle had begun.

All three of them, Ichigo , Rukia and Soifon, charged at each other, sword clashing against sword. Ichigo swung his sword two handedly in a sideways cutting motion at Soifon, who jumped, pulling her legs up , giving her the appearance of crouching in mid air, before she counter attacked by swinging her sword diagonally cutting the cloth of his Shihakusho.

"Damn it!" Ichigo yelled, as he swung back at her.

Rukia jumped back and grinned thinking she had dodged his hit entirely. He grinned back momentarily, causing her confusion, until she saw a few strain of hair, and a few drop of blood dripped down her forehead.

"Not bad, Ichigo" Rukia said, wiping away the blood. " But you'll have to do better the that to beat a Soul Reaper like me who's been around for as long as I have"

Ichigo put a serious face as he thrust his sword forward at Soifon, who had flash-step charged at her. He thought he had got her, but she moved to the side at the last minute, and grabbed his wrist pulling him of valance , followed by a quick kick to his stomach which he only somewhat dodged.

After sliding to a stop, Ichigo held his stomach, which despite only taking Soifon's kick at about half strength, still hurt a bit. But not wanting to back down, Ichigo charged forward at her, to which had Soifon grinning.

_What is he thinking?… a head on attack?… not to bright, my young friend.. _Soifon thought to herself. She prepared herself for his simple attack, and thought about which of the several ways to block him and counter attack, she would use. Ichigo swung at her and she appropriately dodged to the side, ready to counter attack him.

AS he saw Soifon dodge his attack, he said. "Bakudo 1, Sai!"

Soifon arms locked behind her, making her eyes go wide, _Since when does he know about using Kido!_

Ichigo knew he wouldn't have much time, so he acted fast. He dropped low and did a sweeping kick at her legs. Even though she jumped over him again, without her arms to keep her balance, she wound up, falling on her ass.

"How's that, Soifon!" Ichigo said, grinning down at her.

She unleashed enough spiritual pressure to break the simple Kido spell, and sat there ,her arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed.

"Don't get cocky, Kurosaki. You got lucky, nothing more" Soifon said, standing up. " You did well to use that spell to catch me off guard, but it won't happen again."

Rukia couldn't help but snicker at this scene, but before she could attack herself again, a messenger Soul Reaper appeared crouching on the ground. She barley missed cutting him , and instead sliced into the ground right next to him.

Soifon and Ichigo saw him and walked over to Rukia and the messenger. "What are doing here?" Soifon asked, coming to stop. " I asked not to be disturbed, so this better be important"

"Yes ma'am, it is" The messenger said, still crouching. " Rukia Kuchiki is to report to her squad for mandatory squad training"

"I see.." Soifon said, dropping her arms to her sides.

"Sorry I can't stay and training with you anymore today, maybe we can try again tomorrow after your done with Captain Ukitake" Rukia said, sealing her Zanpaktou and putting it back in it's sheath. "Goodbye Ichigo, I'll see you around Captain Soifon"

Rukia and the messenger both flash stepped away, leaving Ichigo and Soifon standing there alone.

"So shall we continue?" Ichigo asked, looking over at Soifon.

"Uh, yes I think I'd like that, Ichigo" Soifon said, holding up her sword. "Are you ready ?"

"Yeah, bring it!" Ichigo said, grinning. "Show me what the Captain of Squad 2 and Head of the Stealth Force can do"

Soifon grinned back at him, as she raised her sword. "With pleasure, Ichigo. But don't whine to me when you wind up in the Squad 4 medical barracks"

"Well see about that" Ichigo said, swing his Zanpaktou at her.

She blocked it with her own sword, making sparks fly. They repeatedly clashed their sword against each other's over and over. Ichigo moved to the right and brought his sword down diagonally t which Soifon brought her sword up blocking it . At the same time she pushed him away with another kick, but this time he caught her foot., before it connected with his stomach.

"Not this time , Soifon" Ichigo said, pushing her back.

"How about we ditch the swords ... and use hand to hand combat?" She suggested, sheathing her sword, and putting on the ground. "Unless of course your afraid of me kicking your ass"

" I've been fighting with just my fists and feet for as long as I can remember… I think it will be me who kicks your little ass" Ichigo said, playfully. "Yoruichi taught you a lot, and she taught me too, so let's see which of her "Students" are better, shall we?"

"Soifon didn't even respond verbally, instead she flash-stepped in front of him giving him a punch intended for his face. He blocked by throwing his arm, and proceeded to quickly pull her forward, and moved around behind her. He grabbed her and put her in a full nelson move, holding her tightly.

"Give, Soifon, there's no way your getting out of this" Ichigo said, confidently.

Soifon knew she had to act fast, and she wasn't about to get beaten so easily. _Wait, I know…_

"You know Ichigo, holding another girl this closely from behind like this might make your girlfriend, Hiyori a little jealous" She said grinning. " Unless your one of those cheating types."

Ichigo turned red, now consciously aware of how closely her small frame was to his.

"I..I … that Is… it was only to stop you," Ichigo stuttered out. " I'd never do it… I mean cheat"

She took advantage of him loosening his hold used the opportunity to pull away and pin him to the ground.

"Now who wins, Ichigo?" She said, grinning at him.

Ichigo didn't respond and was instead enticed by her beauty he hadn't noticed before. He blushed looking up at her, and could help but let his eyes travel downward to see the rest of her small, but athletic body. She noticed him looking at her, and blushed back. She wasn't use to men looking at her in such in a way. She reacted with out thinking and brought her face down to his, as he brought his face up to meet hers. Their lips only brushed against each other's before the went wide-eyed and became aware of what they had done.

Soifon shot up and away from him " I .. shouldn't done that, I'm sorry, " She sputtered out., red faced. "I need to go ..and .. Train my squad, and do paper work.. Or something"

Ichigo could only lay there for a second, nodding in response.

"We shouldn't mention this to anyone.. Understand?" She said, trying to act mad. "Good,.. I'll … I'll see you around"

As she flash-stepped way, Ichigo , still in shock, sat up, and then slowly stood up a moment later. " I..I need to go too I guess and think about what just happened"

He too, flash-stepped away , back to the top of Sokyoku hill, and sat on the edge of it.

"I messed up, didn't I , my little Snaggletooth" He said ,to himself as he sat there.

Some distance away, Soifon landed by her office door. Her incompetent Lieutenant, Omaeda saw her ,and yelled out to her.

"Hey Captain, are you done with your training?" He asked pulling out a rice cracker to much on. "And why did you put our third seat in charge when you were gone, I should have been"

"Omaeda… shut up and leave me alone." She said, sliding open her door. "I don't.. wanna be bother right now"

Before he could say anything back to her, she walked inside and closed it in his face.

"Captain?… He said, to in a low voice. " What's her problem?"

He shrugged and walked away from her office. Inside , Soifon sat at her desk, with the chair leaning back. She wanted to talk to someone about it but who?…_Lady Yoruichi.._

She pulled out her Soul Pager and dialed Yoruichi's number. After a minute she answered.

"Hello, Lady Yoruichi?.. It's Soifon" She said, talking into the phone " I did something stupid… and I need to talk to you about it"

Yoruichi, who was in the world of the living at Urahara's shop, sat on the floor as she listen to Soifon.

"I see… can't say I blame you, the guy is cute. But what you need to do is talk to both him and Hiyori about this." Yoruichi said, into the phone. " Yes I know she will be mad, you if your ready to admit your felling for him.. Maybe you and her can work something out?"

"What you mean work something out!" Soifon's voice yelled, out of the receiver.

"Well.. All three of you are a lot alike, you get along well with her, so hey maybe you can both go out with him, you never know, little bee" Yoruichi replied, holding the phone away from her ear incase Soifon yelled again. "She's bound to find out sooner or later, but It's best if you tell her yourself instead of her finding out from someone else."

"Ichigo is going to be working with Captain Ukitake tomorrow.." Soifon said to Yoruichi.

"Alright, then I'll have her go to the Soul Society tomorrow afternoon, so the three of you can talk" Yoruichi said back to her. "Do you want me to come along?"

"No.. it's going to awkward as it is.. But .." Soifon said, leaning forward over her desk. ".. But it's probably best if it's just the three of us, or maybe just me and Lieutenant Sarugaki"

"Alright, call me if need anything else, Soifon" She replied, smiling. "Don't worry, just keep a calm head, it I'm sure it will work out just fine"

"I hope your right, Lady Yoruichi" Soifon said, hanging up.

Meanwhile Ichigo, still wasn't sure what to think, but it was getting late. He stood up, picked up his sword and put on his back, before flash-stepping away, back to his squad barracks. He arrived a short while later, and found his third seat, Akira, sitting on the roof, listening to a set of headphones.

He landed by her and reached out plucking off her headphones. "Since when did they have headphones in the Soul Society ?" He asked, looking at them.

"Captain Kurosaki!" She exclaimed ,falling back. "When did you get here?"

"Sorry about that" He said, helping her up ,and handing back her headphones.

"It's fine.. And this place maybe a little backwards at times, but even they have music" She said, putting them around her neck. "I got these from the lieutenant of my last squad, as a transferring present"

"Which squad were you on , anyway?" He asked, out of curiosity.

"Squad 8, Lieutenant Hisagi got these and a M3p player for me , cause he knew I liked music" She said, stretching a bit. "You somewhat remind me of him, the same attitude"

"Is that so… well it's getting late, you should probably get some rest, Akira" He said, rubbing her hair playfully, before walking away. "Good night, see you in the morning"

"Yeah, good night Ichigo" She said, in return.

They then both jumped off the roof and went there separate ways to their rooms. Ichigo collapsed on to his bed, in his captain's Quarters, and laid there staring at the ceiling. He had a hell of a day and was tired, but his mind also kept thinking about the thing with Soifon. "I need to get some sleep, I got long day tomorrow" He said, closing his eyes. " I just know Hiyori is going kick my ass for the rest of my life if she finds out about this… she might even kill me…"

He rolled over, and forced himself asleep, the last thoughts on his mind about Soifon and Hiyori.

Back in the world of the living Hiyori sneezed in her sleep, and felt the urged to kick Ichigo's ass for some reason.

END OF CHAPTER 31

To be continued, in chapter 32

Sorry about the delay, but I'm busy, busy. Anyway, please read, enjoy, and review. See ya soon with chapter 32, hopefully soon. Peace out, till then!


	33. Chapter 33

**The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.**

**This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.**

Chapter 32

It was the next morning after the incident with Ichigo and Soifon, and Soifon knew she had to take Yoruichi's advice. She got up ,quickly ate breakfast and got dressed, need to hurry things along for when Yoruichi would send Hiyori to the Soul Society for her. She had quite a bit of time ,but had a lot to do as both the Captain of squad 2 and the head of the Stealth Force. She went out of her room, and walked down the wooden floors till she reached the training fields of Squad 2. She summoned a hell butterfly and sent it to gather her squad for morning training. A few minutes later they all gathered in the field in front of her, awaiting orders.

"Time to get started squad 2" She said, closing her eyes. "Well start with the usual 10 laps around the field and then do your individual training regiments. Begin!"

With a resounding "Yes sir!" her squad begin their laps around the field as commanded. Soifon looked to her idiot lieutenant, Omaeda, who was eating as usual.

"Hey, idiot" Soifon said, in a distasteful tone. " Make sure they do their training while I do paperwork."

"Sure thing, Captain" Omaeda said, smiling confidently. "Just count on me!"

"Ha! As If I could ever truly count on someone as useless as you.." Soifon, said sarcastically. " Just do your job or I'll kick your lazy ass till you can't stand….Better yet, maybe I'll just sew your mouth shut so you can't speak anymore, or eat so damn much."

Omaeda just stood there stammering, at her. "Ca.. ca…captain! You….you wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"I'm tempted, and unless you wanna find out, get your ass in gear, got it?" Soifon said sternly. "Don't let me catch you slacking off , your worthless slob"

Soifon walked off, leaving the sobbing Omaeda standing there. She went back to her room and began her much hated routine of doing some paperwork.

While Soifon was doing paperwork, Ichigo ate, dressed and after getting his squad started on training, and leaving his third seat, Akira, in charge, he went to meet up with Captain Ukitake. He remembered most of the way to the squad 13 barracks, but he didn't remember all of it, and was kind of lost.

"Damn it….why does this place have to all look the same!" Ichigo growled out. I need to find my way to Captain Ukitake's!"

"Captain Kurosaki?" said a voice form nearby.

He turned and looked down to find third seat Kiyone Kotetsu standing there, holding paperwork in her hands.

"Oh, hey there, Kiyone, what's up?" Ichigo asked looking down at the petite girl. "Doing paper work?"

"Oh yeah I'm bring some papers I have to do back to the barracks." She said, looking up at him. "Did I hear that you need to see Captain Ukitake again? You can follow me, I'll show you"

"Thanks, appreciate that" Ichigo said, smiling. "I'm not so good with directions,.. or names… or faces either sometimes"

"Yeah ,Rukia's told us about that" Kiyone said, grinning. " She said your lucky you can remember your own name sometimes"

"I'm going to kick that midget's ass, next time I see her." Ichigo said, scowling. "She wouldn't happen to be at the barracks, would she?"

"Hmm?. No, not right now. She's home at the Kuchiki clan estate at the moment" Kiyone said, looking forward . "Oh, and were here, Captain Kurosaki"

"Oh, thanks again , Kiyone" He said walking to the doorway." And I told you to call me Ichigo, sheesh, don't people listen?"

She apologized, before rushing ahead of him and opened the door so they could go inside.

"Captain Ukitake! Presenting Captain Kurosaki of Squad 5!" Kiyone said, very loudly. "He's here to see you sir!"

"Uhhh…thank you Kiyone, but would you please not shout?" Ukitake asked the girl, standing up. "Please do come in, Ichigo"

Kiyone bowed to them both and ran off with her paperwork in hand.

"She certainly is …enthusiastic" Ichigo said, walking forward. "Though a muzzle might be nice"

"A muzzle?…. Never heard of it. In any case, are you ready to go to the record area and do some research on these Bounts?" Ukitake asked, smiling at him. " I'm feeling much better today, and I've already taking care of my other duties for now. Shall we be along?"

Captain Ukitake led Ichigo out the door and through the streets of the Seireitei for some time till they reached there destination. They nodded to the Soul Reaper on guard and walked in through the doors.

"Wow!…that's a lot of books and files!" Ichigo said, looking around at the massive area. " Just how many books are in here anyways?"

"Hmmm…. I'm not sure, though I estimate it to be in the millions" Ukitake said, as he walked to through the aisle. "We should look in the back area, where the older files and books will be"

"Fine, lead the way" Ichigo said, following the older man past the row of books. " I hope we actually find something useful, so I can get back to the world of the living"

"I certainly hope we find something as well, though it may take some time" Ukitake said, looking at Ichigo. " These records are quite extensive, however. So I suggest we split up, and I'll start on the far right side of these 5 rows where such information might be"

"Alright, then I'll take the far left. Hope we find something useful here, and it doesn't turn out to be a waste of time" Ichigo said, walking over to the bookshelf of records. " Time for some fun…or torture in this case."

While Ichigo was looking for clues about the Bounts with Captain Ukitake, Soifon was standing in the fields outside Kukaku Shiba's house waiting for Hiyori to arrive. It wasn't before she showed up however, and she soon spotted Hiyori walking across the grass towards her.

"Soifon." Hiyori said, coming to a stop on front of her. "Yoruichi said you needed to speak with me… so what is it?"

"Well that is.. I need to talk to you about Ichigo.." Soifon said, uncharacteristically nervously. " And it's important"

"Really?… Alright… start talking, and this had better be worth my time " She said, crossing her arms.

"Alright I'll straight to it" Soifon said, taking a deep breath " … Just like you, I've found myself with.. feelings for Ichigo Kurosaki…"

Hiyori looked at her with a blank expression, unsure of how to react.

"Umm.. Hiyori?" Soifon said, looking at her. "Did…did you hear what I said?"

"Yes…yes I did…" Hiyori said clenching her fists. "I think you and I need to "talk" about some things, don't we?"

For some reason, the way Hiyori said that, made Soifon shiver. She nodded and hoped this "talk" would turn out ok.

Ichigo was exhausted, because after several hours of drudging through book after book he and Captain Ukitake had only found a few things that actually might have helped them.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a break" Ichigo said, leaning against a book case.

"I must agree, even though we did find a few interesting things" Ukitake said, putting a book back. "A war between Soul Reapers and Bounts you told me off, but it was a war to protect the Quincys from the Bounts… that was certainly something unusual."

"Yeah.. This Bount thing gets more and more confusing by the minute" Ichigo said, crossing his arms. "Well then I guess I ought to be going… I need to take a break… but do you feel up to some more snooping tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to that, Ichigo" He replied, walking towards the exit. " We'll meet up at the same time, if that's ok"

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow, Jushiro" Ichigo said, as they walked out the doors.

He bid Ichigo farewell and walked on, in the direction of the Squad 13 barracks, while Ichigo slowly walked back to his own barracks. He decided to visit Ganju sense he hadn't see him in while, so he steered towards Kukaku's house. After about a half hour or so of flash stepping, he arrived and was surprised to see Hiyori there. She was battling with Soifon on the field, which was now tore up quite bit as Ganju stood there with his mouth gaping open.

"Sis is going to kill me!" He said, looking at them. "Ichigo! You here! Great !,stop your crazy girlfriend and your other friend too, there tearing up Kukaku's field!"

"Uh…I'm not getting in the middle of that" Ichigo said, watching. "However.. I can try to ask them to stop.."

"HEY! HIYORI, SOIFON! CUT IT OUT!" Ichigo yelled out to them. "WHAT THE HECK ARE FIGHTING ABOUT ANYWAY!"

Soifon and Hiyori heard his voice and stopped to look in his direction. " Ichigo… we're… not done yet!" Hiyori yelled out. "Deal with it!"

"Well can't say I didn't try" Ichigo said, looking over at Ganju. "I'm sure they'll wear themselves out,….eventually.."

Indeed, it was almost another hour before they started slowing down , getting tired.

"Just give up…. Already.. You can't beat me…" Hiyori said, panting. " And you be…the one to fall first…. And you won't get…to share him…"

"Yeah right….You be the one ….who loses…" Soifon said, also panting slightly. "I'm going win this….and then I'll bee with him too…"

"Well see….. About…. That…" Hiyori said, before falling forward on her face. "zzzzzzzz"

"Ha! told you …. You couldn't beat a member….of the stealth force…" Soifon said, swaying slightly. "I win… bitch"

She too collapsed, only on her back instead of her face, like Hiyori.

"Hiyori! Soifon!" Ichigo said out loud, as he flash-stepped over to them. "You two fell asleep?… just what the hell were you two fighting about anyway?"

He looked down at them to see how badly they were injured and saw that they had large rips throughout their Shihakusho's. They also hand gashes and cut and scrapes on there arms, legs and faces. Ichigo looked down and saw that he could accidentally see two things he wasn't suppose to, one of Soifon's breasts, and part of Hiyori's bare ass. He turned his head quickly, bright red, and felt a little blood drip out of his nose.

"Hey, are they alright?" Ganju asked walking over.

"Uh,…yeah, yeah there fine more or less" Ichigo said, taking off his white Captain's Haori and draping it over Hiyori, and then when Ganju came closer made him give him his vest to cover Soifon up.

"Ok I need to get these two morons healed but I don't know how to do healing Kido…." Ichigo said, standing by them. "I'll need someone from squad 4, but they might get in trouble if I do that…."

"Just call that Isane girl, she'll do it" Ganju said, picking his nose. " And I doubt she'll say anything to get them in trouble. They'll just have to deal with sis, when she finds out"

"Good idea.." Ichigo said, calling a hell butterfly. "I hate these stupid bugs… I can never get them to understand me right."

After several tries he got the hell butterfly to deliver a basic message to Isane for her at the squad 4 barracks. He then carried Hiyori and Soifon inside Kukaku's house with Hiyori over one shoulder and Soifon over the other. He followed Ganju into the house, down the stairs and laid them down on some futons . He sat down next to them and crossed his legs, deciding to meditate until Hanataro got there.

It only seemed like a few minutes of meditating had gone by, when Ichigo felt a hand tap his shoulder. He was startled and ended up causing the person to fall on their ass, when he looked he saw it was a young black haired boy, who looked kind of nervous.

"Um.. hi there.. Who are you?.." Ichigo said, helping his friend up. "Did… did Isane send you…"

"Yeah she did, I'm Hanataro Yamada, the 7th seat of Squad 4, you must be Captain Kurosaki," Hanataro said, getting out his medical supplies. " Lieutenant Kotetsu was busy, so I'll be the one to help… I take it Captain Soifon and Lieutenant Sarugaki here are there ones needing medical attention?… what exactly happened, Captain Kurosaki?"

"I'm not too sure , but there was in a pretty brutal fight when I arrived here a short time ago.. By the way, just call me Ichigo" Ichigo replied, looking down at the two women. " I kind of figured they get in trouble if the head captain found out two Soul Reapers were fighting like this, so Ganju suggested I get Isane to heal them.. But you'll do it right?"

"Sure I will, Just like the lieutenant asked me to do as a favor" Hanataro said, as he put on gloves and began to heal the girls. " Still, I wonder what came over these two to do this in the first place…"

"Maybe when they wake up, they'll tell us" Ichigo said, turning around . "I'm going to go get something to eat, you want anything, Hanataro?"

"No thanks, Captain I have these energy pills that give me plenty of energy if I get tires, or run low on spiritual energy" Hanataro said, not looking away from what he was doing. " But you can go ahead"

"I asked if you were hungry, not if you were low on energy.." Ichigo said, rubbing his temple. " Are you hungry for something, or not? I'm going to grab a sandwich….if they even have stuff to make a sandwich in the Soul Society that is.."

"Oh, um no I'm ok, really, you go ahead while I do this" Hanataro said, as he continues healing Soifon and Hiyori.

There was a loud yell of Ichigo's name from outside, all of a sudden and Ichigo ran up the stair and outside to see who it was. Standing outside was none other then Captain Kenpachi Zaraki pf squad 11.

"Oh, so that Rukia girl was right about you being here.." Kenpachi said, with his usual evil grin. " Long time no chat Ichigo.."

"Kenpachi!.. What.. What the hell do you want? A fight?" Ichigo asked, even though he wasn't in the mood for a fight. " Cause I'm kind of busy…"

"A fight?.. Maybe some other time kid, I'm not the one who want you , Yachiru does" Kenpachi replied to him. " She needs you for something back in the Seireitei"

"She does?… what she want?" Ichigo asked, walking over to Kenpachi.

"Well she didn't exactly say… only that she needed you for something important" Kenpachi replied, thinking. " That's all she told me, so that's all the info I can give ya"

"ehhh…. Fine, Hanataro! I'll be back shortly!" Ichigo yelled down the stairs. " If the ask where I am tell them someone needed me for something , and I'll be right back!"

Hanataro poked his head out of the room and nodded to him, before going back in. Ichigo walked over and started running back to the Seireitei along side Kenpachi. They raced through the grass and then the streets of the Rukon district, until they reached the gates of the Seireitei and ran inside. Once inside Kenpachi led him to non-descript building.

"Here we are kid, Yachiru should be inside" Kenpachi said, walking over to the door. " HEY, YACHIRU! I BROUGHT ICHIGO LIKE YOU BUGGED ABOUT!"

"Ichi's here! Yah! Hahahahaha ! Send him in, send him in!" Yachiru cried form the other side of the door.

"Well have fun kid" Kenpachi said, giving him a grin that seemed to say he knew more then he was letting on. " Maybe next time you and I can have a proper fight, instead of you fighting a brainwashed loser,…. see ya"

Ichigo shook his head before sliding open the door and walking inside to find himself surrounded by several women sitting at a table.

"Um…hi?" He said, looking around the room. " What a…..what did you want, Yachiru?"

"Ichi!" Yachiru cheered as she lunched herself at him. "welcome to the club, Ichigo!"

He barely caught the little girl, but had good reflexes and managed too steady himself afterwards as well. Holding on to the little girl he said" Good to see you too Yachiru, but would tell me why you wanted me here now…and where "here" is?"

"Sure, Ichi! This the meeting room of the Women's league of Soul Reapers!" The girl said, smiling brightly. "And I wanted to take some pictures of you for your photo collection!"

"Photo collection?… you had Kenpachi lead me here …so you can take some photos?" Ichigo asked, in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me… I have better things to do then pose for pictures, Yachiru"

"But.. But Ichi… It's just a few pictures…" Yachiru said, tearing up.

"Ok, ok.. Please don't cry alright." Ichigo said, waving his hands. " I'll let you take the pictures, Yachiru, promise"

"Yeah! Ichi! I'll go get the camera!" Yachiru said, instantly happy again. "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Ichigo sat down in a empty chair by the female Soul Reapers. " I feel like I've been played here but… whatever.." He said, looking around. "So…I know you Kiyone, Isane and Yachiru.. And Mashiro too, but who are the rest of you…wait, Mashiro! When the hell did you get here?"

"Hey, berry-boy! I came here with Hiyori!" Mashiro said, eating a cookie. " I wanted to see if the Soul Society changed since I was last here.."

"It's nice to see you again , Ichigo it has been a while, hasn't it" Isane said, smiling briefly. " Are you adjusting to life as a Captain alright?"

"Um, yeah… But who's your sister?" Ichigo said, shaking her hand.

"That's me Ichigo, I'm her younger sister!" Kiyone said, waving her hand wildly. " I guess I never told you, huh?"

"Um, no, no you didn't…" Ichigo said, looking at the other females there. " What about the rest of you?"

"This here is the Lieutenant of Squad 8, Nanao Ise!" Kiyone said, putting her hands on the shoulders of a glasses wearing girl, with pined up black hair. " Say Hi, Nanao !"

"I'm am more then capable of introducing myself, 3rd seat Kotetsu" the girl said, adjusting her glasses, and looking at Ichigo. " Nice to meet you, Captain Kurosaki. My Captain, Captain Kyoraku, has spoken quite highly of you .. When he's not drunk off his pathetic ass."

"Um…nice to meet you too…I think" Ichigo said, smiling un a somewhat worried fashion.

"And I am the Lieutenant of squad 12, Nemu Kurotsuchi, my Captain has spoken about seeing what makes tick on several occasions " She said in a soft spoken, monotone voice. "None the less, it is pleasant to meet you, Captain Kurosaki"

"Um nice too meet you, but tell your freak job Captain if steps near me , I'll break his arms and kick his ass across the Seireitei" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes.

"Understood, I will inform him of this, after the meeting has ended" Nemu replied, in a even voice. " Shall I pass along any other messages?"

No, that ok… what's taking Yachiru so freaking long anyway?" Ichigo asked, getting bored. " I need to get back to Kukaku's house"

"Don't worry Ichi, I'm right here!" Yachiru said, running in the room with a camera. " Are you ready to take some pictures ?"

"Um yeah, I guess.. By the way, what are these pictures going to be used for?" Ichigo asked, nervously. "these wouldn't be for Kenpachi to use on targets for training would they?"

"No way Ichi, Kenny would never do that..!" And if he did I'd break his neck, ok?" She said, laughing. " Now lets start!"

"Fine…" was all Ichigo said before standing and sitting in a variety of poses for Yachiru while she took photos.

After about an hour or so Yachiru was forced to stop taking pictures and Ichigo sat down with a thump onto a chair. Isane poured him some tea which he gratefully drank down.

"Sorry about that, the Lieutenant gets out of control sometimes" She said, smiling. " You can leave as soon as you wish, Ichigo"

"Thanks, Isane… I do need to get back" He said, standing up. " Well I see you ladies later. By the way… why did you really want those photos?"

"Um.. There for the article on you as the newest and youngest Soul Reaper and as the youngest Captain in the history of the Soul Society" Kiyone said, grinning, sheepishly. " Well bye, see ya later Ichigo!"

"Um yeah, sure…bye" He said, blinking a few times and walking out the door before sliding it shut

"Lieutenant Kusajishi… do you really think it was a good idea to lie to him about what these photos will be used for?…" Isane said, nervously. " He's bound to find out about the real reason"

"So, Ichi wouldn't care , and the Captain photo collection and calendar of Ichi will sell really well!" Yachiru said, looking through the photos grinning. " Who knew Ichi was so muscular either"

This caused the other girls in the room to blush and turn their heads away from each other, hoping Ichigo wouldn't find out indeed.

Ichigo quickly made his way back to Kukaku's house to find Soifon and Hiyori eating and talking like the fight had never happened.

"What the hell… when I first found you ,you were fighting like cats and dogs…and now your acting like best friends.." Ichigo said, very confused. "Did you hurt your heads while fighting or something?"

"Don't worry , every things fine Ichi-kun" Soifon said, smiling. " Have a seat, cause we need to have long talk about things"

"Ichi-kun?…" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow. " Ok, I really need some information here…"

Ichigo , Soifon and Hiyori had a very long talk for the next several hours and some how Ichigo found himself with a second girlfriend.

"This ..is nuts…" Ichigo said, walking through the grass outside Kukaku's with Hiyori holding his left hand, and Soifon holding his right. " I can't believe you had a crush on me, Soifon… I never saw any hints of it.."

"That's because your dense, Ichigo" Hiyori said, snikering. "What I don't get , is why your acting so weird.. I mean you get two smoking babes here,…most guys would be envious, right?"

"How would I know?… besides what if I can't keep both of you happy?" Ichigo said, looking down at her. " I mean yeah I do like you Soifon, but will this type of relationship really work out?"

"As we already explained, yes it will stop worrying so damn much… I mean…we love you and you love us, isn't that all that matters in this situation?" Soifon asked, blushing. " You do love us ,right Ichi-kun?"

"Well yeah of course I do, Soifon" Ichigo replied, blushing as well. " But what will other people think? They'll start thinking I'm a player or a pervert only interested in girls or something.."

"If anyone says anything.. Tell them the truth," Soifon said, looking over at him. " If they do not like that answer, then that is something they will have too live with"

"Or better yet, if anyone says anything about the three of us dating, we'll beat the shit out of them" Hiyori said, grinning maliciously . " Break their bones and make them bleed…. Hehehehe"

"Um..should I sleep with one eye open from now on?" Soifon asked, somewhat freaked out. " She doesn't kill things in her sleep does she?"

"Not that I know of….." Ichigo said, sighing. " But I wouldn't put it past her…"

"So what should we do now?" Soifon asked addressing both Ichigo and Hiyori.

"We'll I still need to find some useful information on the Bounts.." Ichigo said, coming to a stop "I mean ,we did find out a few things but not enough..like what are they after.."

"Maybe it would be easier to find that out , in the world of the living, where the Bounts are" Soifon said, to him.

"I gotta agree with her" Hiyori said, looking at the sky. " We go to them and find out what their planing…right before stopping them, by kicking their freaky Bount asses"

"I guess, I just gotta stop by and tell Jushiro I'm going back to the world of the living tomorrow instead of looking for more information in the record room" Ichigo said, thingki for a second. "Unless you don't mind waiting till tomorrow afternoon to go back"

"I don't ,.. me and Soifon here need to get to know each other anyways" Hiyori said, putting her hands on her hips. "We'll do that while you look with the Captain, and well meet up to go back to the world of the living"

"Fine, sounds good to me" Ichigo said, giving nod. "How about we grab some dinner and get back to Squad 5 barracks, Hiyori?"

"What about me, Ichigo?" Soifon said, bluching. " Are we going to not see each other again till tomorrow after noon?"

"Well..how about we meet up and relax together, after dinner?" Ichigo suggested. "I'm sure you have to check on your squad, don't you?"

They walked back to the Seireitei and when they walked through the frontgates they stopped.

"It may be best that until this situation with the Bounts is resolved, we should keep our relationship out of public" Soifon said, to Ichigo and Hiyori. "It would only complicat things…"

"Flaty has a point, strawberry." Hiyori said, frowning. " You and I our already public knowledge, But Soifon just joined in as your second girlfriend"

"I guess… thoough didn't you just say we'd kill anyone who said anything or were you just trying to sound cool?" Ichigo asked, looking at his short girlfriend. " I say to hell with them, I 'm not going to hide the fact that I'm going out with tow beautiful girls , so I say forget about that hiding crap!"

Hiyori and Soifon blushed at the beautiful comment but nodded at him .

"Ok..if you don't care…then nither will I" Soifon exclaimed, blushing " WE'll make our three person relationship known to all"

"Right, lets go check on our squad and eat, Hiyori" Ichig osaid, smiling at the girl. " And I'll see you later, Soinfon"

She nodded and kissed him on his cheek before flash-stepping away. Ichigo blushed at the boldness, and took Hiyori's hand, before flash stepping away to his own barracks. They made sure the squad did their routines, ate some dinner and met up with Soifon on the rooftop of the squad 5 barracks. Soifone had brought a cat patterned blanket with her, for them to sit on.

"I though perhaps, that this would be more comfortable then sitting on the roof itself." She said, with a tiny blush appearing on her cheeks. " Was that ok?"

"Sure , spread it out" Ichigo said, smiling. " Oh, and sorry it took so long to let you know we were done, I kept killing the hell butterflies, cause they were pissing me off"

"I'm not surprised, somehow…" Soifon said, shaking her head, while smiling.

They all sat down and started talking, with the majority of the talk about Soifon, since neither Ichigo nor Hiyori knew much about her.

"….So you took the Soul Reapar exam, but was put right into a squad before you even had to finish it, or go through the academy because of your abiltites?" Ichigo said, looking at her in amazment. " I gotta say, that's pretty amazing, Soifon"

"Thank you,… however, even though I go by the name, Soifon now, it wasn't always my name, and I'd prefer if you called me that" Soifon said, blushing at him. " My name from birth, up until I became part of the group that served Lady Yoruichi, was Shaolin Feng"

"Shaolin huh?.. that's a nice name, I like it" Ichigo said, laying down on the blanket and looking up at the stars. "So Shaolin, Hiyori, how about we just relax and watch the stars for now , their starting to appear now"

They agreed and lay there looking at the stars together, enjoying the peace and quite. Hiyori. Ever the bold one, snuggled up beside Ichigo and hhe put his arm around her. Soifon was somewhat jealous of the ease that she displayed her affection, and choose to lay close to him, not use to such boldness. The three of them soon, fel asleep and at some point Soifon had also snuggled close to Ichigo without knowing it and eventually had an arm around her as well.

* Back in the World of the living*

"So, you've decide to come crawling back, have you Yoshino?" Jin Kariya said, with out looking behind him. " You know , stars are such a thing of beauty and mystery.. You never know what secrets they hold"

"As if your one to talk, Jin. I know your up to something as well, and I will stop you, one way or another" Yoshino said, clenching her fist. " I've decide to leave my new friends out of this and end you on my own"

"So independent, and smart…yet so foolish as well." Jin said, finally looking at her. " You don't really think you'll stand a chance against my on your own, do you?"

"Shut up!" Yoshino yelled ,aiming her wrist with her sealed doll, forward. "No more talk ..it's time to put this too an end!"

"How right you are, for a change.." He said, pulling a pack of cards with his own sealed doll, out of his pocket. "Are you ready to begin..?" ( bonus nonexistent points to the people who know which film that quote came from, and tell me in a review)

To be continued….

End of chapter 32

Sorry about the wait, but busy as a bee is good way to describe my life. Please read, review and of course, enjoy till the next chapter, 33


	34. Chapter 34

"I said,.. are you ready to begin..?" Jin Kariya asked, calmly grinning at Yoshino. " Don't tell me you've come all this way and don't even have the courage to follow through with your threat?"

"I don't intent to go back on my promise…." Yoshino replied, narrowing her eyes. " But I don't plan on falling in to any traps you have planned for me"

"Traps?…why on earth would I set a trap?….your already here." Kariya replied, closing his eyes. " All that remains ….is to kill you"

"Kill me?.. you act as if I came here on my own?…" Yoshino said, as she activated her doll. "Chad, Orihime, Soul Reapers, and….um glasses boy, now!"

Chad, Orihime, Rangiku, Kukaku, Renji, and Uryu all appeared out of a red energy vortex, created by the mod soul ,Nova. Chad activated his arm, Orihime held her hands by her hairpins, Uryu activated his bow, Kukaku cracked her knuckles and Renji released his Zanpaktou with a cry of "Roar! Zabimaru!"

Orihime looked over at Rangiku somewhat confused, "Um, Rangiku? Why didn't you do the unsealing thing with your sword like Renji did?" She asked, looking ahead at a amused Kariya. "Is your's like Ichigo-kun's ?"

"Like Ichigo's? no, his in a full time released state, but Hinako on the other hand…" She said pulling out her sword. "… Is a bit different, so I'm not releasing her until needed"

"Are you all quite ready?" Kariya asked, smiling. "Because to be honest, all this waiting is making me bored"

"Fine then we won't make you wait" Uryu replied, as proceeded to fire off a round of arrows at Kariya.

Kariya simply smiled, and stepped out of the way, avoiding all of them.

"Hmm…so much for a Quincy's arrows" Kariya said, looking at Uryu. " You didn't even graze me. How pathetic. Surely your ancestors are rolling in their graves….from laughter"

"How this for pathetic?" Yelled Renji, as he swung his released Zanpaktou, letting the segments extend and slice at Kariya.

Kariya held put his hand and calmly grabbed the end of his sword, stopping it in it's tracks, before throwing it to the side.

"What the hell? He blocked Zabimaru like it was nothing!" Renji said, pulling back the segments of his sword. " How the hell are suppose to beat him when he can dodge or reflect everything?"

"Then just try harder, don't we?" Rangiku said, holding her sword out. " Growl , Hinako!"

Rangiku's blade turned into ash and disappeared from her hilt. It swirled around and out of sight, until a few small cuts appeared on Kariya's face, causing his eyes to wide slightly.

"Now take this!" She yelled. "Neko Rinbu!"

A cloud of the ash from Rangiku blade enveloped Kariya in a storm. The ash blocked him from view for a moment, until a strong wind blew it away. After the ash moved, away Kariya was standing there, gritting his teeth.

"That… is an impressive ability, young lady" He said, narrowing his eyes. " But not impressive enough, I'm afraid."

"You know, wind has been called the ultimate enemy…. And it is a force that I alone, command" Kariya said, smugly. "It's shame that you can't compete… maybe if the substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki was here, you might hold out for at least a little while, but on your own…well…"

" Speaking of Ichigo, we could really use his help.." Yoshino, said, not taking her eyes of off Kariya. "Where the hell is he?"

Speaking of Ichigo, he, Soifon and Hiyori were walking along in the Soul Society still.

"Ichigo! Stop walking so damn slow, you moron!"

Hiyori was tapping her foot angrily, waiting for Ichigo to hurry up. Soifon was standing a few feet away from her, and just looked at Ichigo, not saying anything at the moment.

"Stop being so bitchy…it's annoying and immature." Soifon suddenly remarked, looking over at Hiyori. " Is it because your so damn short, or what?"

"What did you say, you stuck up bitch?" Hiyori yelled, looking at Soifon. "At least I'm not too scared to tell someone you like them, you just hid and liked Ichigo from the shadows instead of telling him your feelings right away."

"Bite me, midget"

"Screw off, bitch"

"ENOUGH!" Ichigo yelled loudly at them. " You two are both acting like school children. Not to mention you've been fighting like cats and dogs, ever since this morning… I thought you both worked out things yesterday?"

"I thought we did too… but this flat chested midget here, is causing problems" Soifon said, crossing her arms.

"Who are you calling flattest? I've got much bigger breasts then you do!" Hiyori growled. " And I'm willing to prove it…Ichigo!, who has the bigger rack, me or flatty over here?"

"What?…don't get me involved in this, and how would I know?" He asked, blushing. " I mean yeah I've see you naked, plenty of time while we were getting dressed, but A, I wasn't staring to see how big they were, B, I've never seen Soifon's, and C, I'm not a pervert who will compare your breasts.."

"Fine then I have no choice but to show you…" Soifon said, undoing her Shihakusho. "Don't stare, just tell us which are bigger"

"Wait stop! I'm going to compare your breasts! And what would that accomplish anyways? It wouldn't make me like one of you more then the other, if that's your goal" Ichigo, said, looking away. " You two are going to sit and talk about your issues.. otherwise… I'm breaking up with both of you"

"You can't do that"

"We love you"

"Don't be so stupid, Ichigo!"

"I just became your other girlfriend, yesterday!"

"Well then I suggest you-" Ichigo started, before being interrupted by a messenger. "What is it?"

"Captain Kurosaki, you have a letter from Kisuke Urahara in the world of the living" The messenger said, bowing and handing him the paper.

"Urahara?…uh thanks" He said, to the already gone man. " Wonder what he… oh shit! We gotta get back, now!"

"What is it Ichigo!" Soifon asked, looking over at him. "Where do we have to go?"

"The world of the living! The others are fighting against the leader of the Bounts!" Ichigo said, running off. "Come on!"

Hiyori and Soifon decide to settle things later and followed him as he flashed stepped away. After a while he came to a stop, inside the forest.

"Can one of you open a Senkaimon door thing?" Ichigo asked, after the girls caught up to him. " I've never been good with that whole thing"

"You really need to learn how do to this one your own, but considering the situation, fine" Hiyori said, pulling out her Zanpaktou, concentrating for a second, and thrusting it forward. She then turned it to the side, and a gate appeared, opening for them, with three hell butterflies floating out.

"Wait, we can't just leave to the world of the living without permission, even if the situation is dire!" Soifon said, stepping forward. "You, Ichigo and me are captains, and you Hiyori are a lieutenant, we need to set good examples."

"Screw good examples, if you wanna stay go for it, I'm going" Ichigo said, walking through the open gate. " Come on Hiyori, lets hurry. If you wanna come too, then hurry up, Soifon!"

"Ichigo wait!" She yelled, to him, before following him and Hiyori in. "Damn it! this is not going to end well!"

Minutes later the Senkaimon opened outside of Urahara's shop, where Ichigo, Hiyori and Soifon found Urahara, Tessai ,Ururu and Jinta standing there.

" Urahara! Where are they?" Ichigo asked, the minute there stepped foot on the ground. " When did they leave?"

"Nice to see you too, Ichigo" Urahara said, holding his fan in front of his face.

"I don't have time for your crap, where are they?" Ichigo asked, grabbing Urahara by his collar. "Answer me, damn it!"

"Take a deep breath and hold on, Ichigo" Urahara said, calmly, despite being held roughly. "Going into any potentially dangerous situation, while acting reckless, will only lead to death"

"…"

"Now then, I will tell you the direction they went…" Urahara said, as Ichigo let go of him. " But,.. your need some help. Fortunately for you however, I can provide that help"

"Ok fine, how?" Ichigo said, after being quiet for a moment.

"A mod soul, that I … altered. I equipped him with a Bount sensor function, like Lirin, Kurodo, and Nova have" Urahara said, grinning slightly. " He yours, if you can handle his…quirks"

"Quirks?" Hiyori asked, raising an eyebrow. "What did you screw up this time, you old goat?"

"I think the day you and Ichigo here learn some manners, the sun will forget how to rise" Urahara said, putting his hands in his pockets. " Ururu, Jinta. Go and fetch it for me will you?"

"Right boss" Jinta said, looking over at her. "Come on Ururu"

Ururu looked over at Ichigo for a moment before running over and hugging him. "hmm…it's good to see you again, Ichigo"

Ichigo was started for a brief second before hugging her back. "Good to see you too, sweetie"

She nodded with a blush, before running off inside with Jinta.

"I still think …no, I know were going to be in big trouble for going through to the world of the living without permission" Soifon said, sighing. "Your taking responsibility for this one, Urahara. You know that right?"

Urahara didn't say anything, but he did smirk at her , and held his fan back up to his face.

Jinta and Ururu came back out a moment later, holding a dirty, yellow stuffed lion.

"Here you go, spikey head," Jinta said, throwing him the doll.

"A dirty little lion, huh?" Ichigo said, looking at it. " Looks you rescued it from the side of the road"

"Where do you think we got it from?" Jinta said, grinning. "Boss is way too cheap to have brought it"

"Now then, all that's remaining, is this, the actually mod soul" Urahara said, finally taking his other hand out of his pocket, and throwing the pill shaped mod soul to Ichigo. " Just be warned, he has a real attitude, and seems to be a major pervert as well. Have fun!"

Ichigo shoved the pill-like object into the mouth of the stuffed lion, and not a moment later, the lion sprang to life jumping out of Ichigo's hands.

"Don't hold me so roughly, asshole" the mod soul said, angrily. " Is this the guy, Urahara? He looks like a total douche"

"Yeah, cause you have a cool look…your in a stuffed doll they got off the street" Ichigo said, sarcastically. " At least I have a body…moron"

"Bite me, loser!" he said back. " And it's not moron, it's Kon, so get it right dandelion head!"

"Your both idiots if you ask me" Soifon said, looking bored. " Isn't this a serious situation? We should get moving"

"Yeah, what that weird guy says, Spikey head" Kon ,said, crossing his arms.

"Exactly.. Wait, did you just call me a guy? I'm a woman ,you little shit stain!" Soifon yelled, cheeks red.

"Really? Your so flat chested, and rude I couldn't really tell" Kon replied, before getting grabbed by her and thrown to the ground.

"While Soifon stomps the crap out him, is there anything more info you can give us, Mr. Hat and Clogs?" Ichigo asked, more then ready to go.

"You're the one who went looking for info… but no, other then there starting direction of east, I can't really tell you much, sorry" Urahara said, calmly. " Just be careful, Ichigo."

"I will… Come on, you can kill Kon later" Ichigo said, grabbing Kon and jumping to the roof, followed by the sky. " Ok, lead us to the Bounts"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, Ichigo" Kon said, hoping onto his shoulder. "Hmmm…lets see, they went….that way, to the north east. That's where the scent of the Bount that was with them went"

"A Bount that was with them?" Ichigo asked, as he stood in the air. " Why didn't Urahara mention this?"

"Don't ask me, but she was pretty stacked, if you know what I mean" Kon said, blushing. " Oh and besides her nice rack, she was named…uh… Yoshino, yeah that was it. She came and asked for help to fight the Bount's leader, said he was planning something really evil"

"Nice to be told these things…" Ichigo said, annoyed. " You said north-east, right? .. Ok, Soifon, Hiyori, lets go!"

"By the Way, Ichigo I was told to give this too you some time ago, but forgot about it" Soifon said, flash stepping beside him, and handing a small badge with a skull on it.

"Um, what is it ?" Ichigo asked, as the three of them continued to flash-step across the sky.

"I think it's called a Substitute Soul Reaper Badge" Soifon replied, looking forward. " All I know about it though, is that your suppose to keep it with you"

"Why? I'm not a substitute anymore, I don't need it , or want it, you keep it" Ichigo said, tossing it back to her. "We have more important things to worry about then a stupid little skull badge"

"Be that as it may, the head Captain specifically told me to make sure you keep it on you at all times" Soifon argued back, giving it back to him. " It's suppose to be a Id card of sorts,"

"Tough, I don't want it" Ichigo said, tossing in Hiyori's direction. " You want this?"

"I suppose… Skulls do suit me.." Hiyori said, looking it over as they ran. " Alright, I'll take it I guess…matches my underwear"

A small drip of blood came out of Ichigo's nose as he unintentionally imagined Hiyori in her underwear.

"Uh.. Focus, remember?" Ichigo said, wiping the blood away. " Kon, are we almost there?"

"Hmm… yeah the Spritual Pressure of your friends and of the Bounts is definitely close by" Kon said, trying to hold on to Ichigo's shoulder. " Were definitely almost there"

"Good, the sooner we get there, the soon I can make sure there ok" Ichigo said, as he increased his speed.

"Wait up, moron!" Hiyori yelled as she and Soifon tried to catch up with him.

Hiyori went so fast that the skull badge fell, without her even knowing, and she sped on, oblivious to the fact that it was gone. Using Kon's detention ability, they soon came upon a mansion in the woods, and they slowly crept towards it , after descending to the ground.

"Alright, let's find these Bounts and kick their asses!" Ichigo said, running off.

"Ichigo wait! We can't just rush in there!" Soifon yelled in a loud whisper. " Hiyori tell him that we need …Hiyori ?"

Hiyori was already running along side Ichigo as they head towards the mansion. It wasn't long before they found the front of the mansion, but no signs of their friends.

"Where are the others?…" Ichigo said as they came to a stop. " Urahara said they were here…"

"Maybe there on the other side of the mansion.." Soifon said, " Then again, they could also be inside-"

There was a loud explsion from inside the mansion, and a pillar of ice shot up through part of the roof.

"That's gotta be one of Rukia's attacks from her Zanpatou!" Ichigo said loudly. " That's means they are inside and in a battle. Come on, Lets go!"

The three of them, despite Soifon's insistence that they go in quietly, burst through the front door, after Ichigo cut it down with Zangetsu. Inside, they found Rukia, Chad, Orihime, Kukaku and Renji battling against two of the Bounts, the inside Yoshi, and the tough Koga.

"Come on you weak ass fools, is this really the best you can do?" Yoshi yelled, laughing.

"Holy crap that's one crazy bitch!" Kon yelled, propped on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's for sure…" Hiyori said, looking around and releasing her Zanpaktou. " Butcher him! Kubikiri Orochi!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled ,blocking a attatck from Yoshi. "Well be ok here, Uryu is the ones who needs help, he and the Bount Yoshino chased the leader of the Bounts, a man named Kariya"

"Right! Soifon, you help these guys, Hiyori lets go after this Kariya person!" Ichigo said, running off with Kon on his shoulder still.

"Fine, but be careful!" Soifon said, pulling out her Zanapaktou and rushing over to help the others.

Ichigo and Hiyori ran through a nearby set of doors, and down several hallways, until they reach a back door, and opened it to reveal a large field. In the middle of the field, Uryu and a female Bount, that Ichigo assumed was the one named Yoshino. Uryu was hunched over hold a wound on his arm, and he looked over when Ichigo and Hiyori entered the room. Yoshino was trying to fight against Kariya and was having a difficult time.

"Ichigo! Hiyori! Your here" Uryu, said, standing up and leaning against the wall. " Decided to come last and be the hero, huh?"

"Your still fine enough to make sarcastic remarks.. Guess your not very injured" Ichigo said, as he gripped his Zanpaktou. " Hey you, with the white hair!, Are you Kariya!"

Perhaps I am, Ichigo Kurosaki…" The man said, smiling evilly. "You know I find it strange that you've only now shown up, instead of coming with your friends, mister substitute Soul Reaper"

_Substitute?… He must have out of date info…better keep it that way too.. _Though Ichigo.

"Yeah, But I was busy, and didn't know they came here" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes and grinning. " But don't worry, now that I am here, I can kick your ass"

"Fine you can try, Yoshino looks a bit tired after all" Kariya said grinning as he kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying into the wall. "Now lets see if the Substitute Soul Reaper with the enormous Reishi is any better"

"And what about me, asshole?" Hiyori yelled ,angry at being ignored. "I'm going to kick your ugly ass just as much as Ichigo here!"

"Hmm… and you are the former Soul Reaper turned Vizard leader, Hiyori Saugaki" Kariya siad, calmly. " It will be a pleasure to kill you, along with him"

"We'll see… Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu!" Hiyori yelled sending a high speed and very sharp shot of air at him.

"Pathetic do you really think-" Kaiya started, before feeling a stinging pains on his face. " You little bitch.. You can use the wind to attack… this wasn't in the report…"

Hiyori just grinned at Kariya, who now sported five, long, bleeding cuts across his face.

"You'll will suffer, Soul Reapers" Kariya growlwed. "I promise you that.."

Ichigo and Hiyori charged Kariya at the same time but he moved to the side dodging Ichigo's blade while simultaneously grabing Hiyori's and pulling her towards him by it, before punching her in the stomach. Hiyori stumbled back and in retaliation Ichigo shot forward using flash-step, managing to cut into Kariya's side.

"Lucky punk" Kariya growled, jumping back. " I think it's time to get serious with you two"

"I'll show you serious.. Getsuga… Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled unleash a the giant wave of energy at Kariya.

Kariya gritted his teeth and tried to jump out of the way. He managed to dodge it, although it did leave singe mark on the left arm of his jacket, and after the dust settled, and large crumbling opening in a nearby wall of his mansion.

"You've damaged my mansion…I really like this place you know…" Kariya said, looking over at the momentarily. " You really know how to make me pissed"

Ichigo tried to unleash another Getsuga Tenshou but was stopped by Kariya disappearing from sight and grabing his sword by it's blade.

"Too slow, boy" Kariya said with a small grin, before pulling it out of his hand and tossing across the room. "Let me show you how it's done, shall I?"

Kariya raced forward and kneed him in his side before upper-cutting him. Ichig ohit the floor and rolled a few times before stopping, and Hiyori flash-stepped over.

"Ichigo!" Hiyori said, helping him sit up. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I might puke, and I think my jaw is going to be sore for a while but other then that just peachy" Ichigo said, taking a deep breath. "This guy is…"

"…Something else, I know" Hiyori said, finishing his sentence and keeping an eye on Kariya. "Time for pay back"

"Wait Hiyori!" Ichigo yelled holding his stomach.

"You should listen to your friend here, miss Sarugaki" Kariya said ,to her. "Your both weak and are in my way…now, be gone"

He backhanded her hard and sent her bouncing off a tall statue of the Greek god Zeus .

"Damn you, Kariya!" Yelled Yoshino standing up shakily. "I'm not done yet, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve"

"I had hoped so, my dear" Kariya said grinning in her direction.

"But I won't show you here" Yoshino said, clenching her fists. "Let's go to a location away fom here, and then I'll show you what it means to wield power"

"Gladly, as these two are pathetically disappointing" he said in response, putting his hands in his pockets. " Lead the way"

"Damn ..we need to train more .. Maybe if we had used Bankai we culd have stopped him" Ichigo said, as he picked up Hiyori. "Hey are you ok, snaggletooth?.. I gotta get Orihime to heal her, can you walk Uryu?"

" Yes, I can manage.. And you should take the blame for being unable to beat him, I highly doubt, even your Bankai would have been much more then a nusince to that guy" Uryu said, slowly walking over to him. " He defeated me as if I was a fly, and he seemed to make fast work of you two as well"

"… Why d othinks just get more complicated by the second?" Ichgi osaid, holding Hiyori close as he raced off to find Orihime.

"I do not know Ichigo Kurosaki… but I fear they will be this way" Uryu, said to a now empty room as he slowly walked in Ichigo's direction.

After going back to the others, they found the other Bounts had all left around the same time, as Yoshino and Kariya had. Orihime immediently healed Hiyori, who had a mild concussion, and then set to work on the injuries the others had sustained during the battles.

"Ichigo.. Regarding the thing you, me and Hiyori have.." Soifon said ,walking over to him " Given the situation with these bounts, perhaps it better to deal with is afterward we find a way to deal with them'

"Yeah ,I was thinking the same thing" Ichigo said looking up at her. "Don't worry we'll work it out, but right now we need to regroup elsewhere"

"Agreed, as this this place looks unstable" Uryu ,said, while Orihime healed him. " The sooner the better I believe."

"Right" everyone agreed and all soon made there way out of the mansion that was beginning to crumble.

"Should we go after Yoshino and that Kariya guy?" Rukia asked, hands on her hips. " We promised to help her since we both want to stop the Bounts…"

"How many of us iare in good enough shape too? Besides, now of us stood a change againt an enemy that seemd to know almost everthing about us" Ichigo said ,angry at looding so easily. " Although some of this Kariya guy's facts were a bit outdated, so at least we have that going for us…"

"We should go back to Urahara's do Tessai can make sure were all ok, no offence but Orihime hasn't had her powers very long" Rangiku said,standing next to the girl. " In fact I reconmend trainjing your healing abilties as soon as possible"

"Don't worry I'l' doo just that!" Orihime said, smiling. " Now lets get back, I wanna see how Tatsuki's doing with her training"

"I wondered where she was…" Soifon said, out loud. " Come on, lets move"

They all slowly made there way back to Urahara , while Ichigo wondered how they could have Orihime develop her powers more, and was going to ask Hiyori and Urahar if they they had any ideas once they got back.

…To be continued

End of chapter 33

Please read, review and enjoy.. Sorry about the long wait but things have been busy. I'll try to get back on a regular schedule of a update a week


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 34

After they all got back to Urahara's shop, Yoruichi herself, went off to see if she could find where Yoshino and the Bount leader, Kariya went off to.

"Hmm. Are we going in the right direction, Kurodo ?" Yoruichi asked the mod soul who she had brought with her.

"Hmm…. Yes most definitely. The Reishi that Kon described as Kariya's as well as the Reishi I recognize as Yoshino's is absolutely in this direction" Kurodo said, happily. "I hopes she's alright"

"Well just have to wait and see, afterall she's just a extra character for this arc anyways…" Yoruichi said, as they flash stepped a few blocks away. " She'll probably wont be in the next story arc anyways…"

"True….oh! I'm sensing a clash of Bount Reishi nearby.. Three blocks to the west!" Kurodo said, looking and pointing to the side. " Wait it's fading…. As if it was the release of a huge amount of Bount energy or something"

"?.. then I'll have to hurry, hold on!" Yoruichi said, flash-stepping faster then she had been.

Several minutes later she stopped at the top of a steel beam, and looked out over a construction sight. She looked down, and saw something on the ground, shimmering, so she flash-stepped down to it. Yoruichi walked forward and saw it was a pile of clothes, and a necklace. She crouched down and picked it up , looking over at the clothes.

"It appears we were too late…" Yoruichi said, in a sad voice . "These are Yoshino's clothing.."

"But how?.. Yoshino and that Kariya person only left around 15 or 20 minutes before we left the shop" Kurodo said, surprised and confused. " How did we not arrive in time?"

"You saw how none of the others, including Ichigo could even injure the Bount's leader, right?" Yoruichi said standing up. "Do you really think that Yoshino person had the killer instinct to defeat him?"

"She did.. but she still failed, as you can see" A deep voice said from nearby. "But in doing so she helped with our true ambition"

Yoruichi and Kurodo looked up and saw Kariya standing there, with a grin.

"You must be Kariya. I take it you killed Yoshino?" Yoruichi said, putting her hands on her hips. " …What did you mean by true ambition?"

"If I were to tell you that… where would the fun be?" Kariya said, putting his hands in his pockets."Well I really need to be going…. Things to do, things to see… chow!"

"Oh.. And don't worry you'll all know of our true ambition soon enough" He said before disappearing from sight.

"This is most troublesome…. What are going to do about that shfty Bount leader?" Kurodo said, putting his hand on his chin to think. " Their true ambiton will probably be another massive headach for everyone… so what do we do?"

"Hmmm… I'm not sure there's anything we can do for the moment." Yoruichi said, looking down at Kuroco. " At least not untill any information to go on, regarding the Bount's ambiton. We should head back to Urahara's shop for now though,.. And I guess I'll bring back Yoshino's things here as well"

Kurodo hopped onto Yoruichi's shoulder and with Yoshino's clothes and necklace in hand, they flash-stepped out of sight. They arrived at Urahara's not much later and explained what they had found along with the cryptic messege from the Bount's leader Kariya.

"…I see.. Very interesting indeed" Urahara said, hand on chin. " But it doesn't give us a lot of info to go on"

"I suspect that was on purpose.. To let us know that he and the other Bounts still had plans but not exactly what they were at the same time" Yoruichi said, sitting down.

"This is stupid" Ichigo some cold green tea " We can't just sit around and wait for that nut job to do something"

"And what exactly to suggest we do, Ichigo?.. Track him down and defeat him in combat?" Yoruichi said, with her eyes closed as she sipped some hot tea. "Or have you forgotten that none of you were able to een lay so much as a scratch on him before?"

"Yeah but-"

"Not to mentino the fact that your a Captain now, and can't simply leave your post to come to the world of the living when ever you want" She said, cuting him off. " The head captian has allowed you to bend the rules to your liking to a extreme degree as pay back for hellping them, but if you bend a tree branch hard enough, it will break eventually"

"She's right Ichigo, we need a plan of attack , and to find out what that Kariya guy is up to first" Tatsuki said, coming into the room. "… Honestly, you never grow up, always acting first, and either thinking secondly.. Or not at all. It's going to get you killed someday"

"Hey Tatsuki, how's your training coming along?" Ichigo asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's going fine so far, Ichigo" Tatsuki said, taking a seat. "But changing the subject won't work, so nice try. You should go back to the Soul Socetiy and be with your squad for now"

"She's right Ichigo, you, Hiyori, Soifon, Renji, Kukaku and Rangiku should all head back and let us deal with the situation for now" Uranahar said in a serious tone. " If we find anything or need help, it doesn't take long to get a messege to you, so it's best for everyone, really"

"…. What do you think, Hiyori?" Ichigo asked, after being silent for a moment. " Should we go back or stay here?"

"I don't know….." Hiyoeri said, running her hand over the bandages on her head. " It's up to you, I'm good either way. I agree we need more info before going after them…. But sitting around on our hands while the Bounts prepare whatever it is there planing isn't a good idea either."

"Perhapes it would be best if we returned to the Soul Soceity, Ichigo" Soifon said, speaking up. "The head Captain is going to eventually get angry that you keep leaving to the world of the living without permission and leaving your squad to be run by your third seat. We should go back"

"Maybe .. But it's not like I care what the old man thinks or anything…" Ichigio said, drinking the rest of his can of tea. " Then again, I suppose my third seat Akira has been taking care of the squad without ever complaining.. Maybe I should go back or something.."

"Fine , then lets go back… I want to get some pocky for the road since they don't have any there… stupid no pocky Soul Society…" Hiyori said, crossing her arms. " Yo! , you got any Pocky, Kisuke?"

"Probably yeah, in the store up front I think" Urahara said, offhandedly. "Why?"

Beffore he could blink, Hiyori was gone, and a faint out line of her was visible where had been a moment ago. Minutes later, she returned holding a large paper bag full of Pocky of all flavors.

"Um.. I know you like Pocky,.. But isn't thata bit overkill?" Ichigo asked, watching the peteit girl sit down next to him and dig right in. "..Can I have a box?"

"…" Hiyori held out the bag to him but didn't speack cause she had several Pocky sticks shoved in her mouth. He grabbed a box of strawberry Pocky and proceed to eat afew while waiting for Hiyori to be ready to return to the Soul Soceity. He stood up and grabbed the bandage wrapped Zangetsu, putting it on his back, before nodding to Urahara. Everyone went outside, so Ichigo and Hiyori could open a Senkiamon and go back. Ichigo, Hiyori, Soifon, Rangiku, Kukaku and Renji said their goodbyes to their friends, with Ichigo wondering why Orihime seemed so particularly sad with them leaving.

Hiyori opened the gate and after thehell buterflys appeared they group made their way through, to get back to the Soul Soceity. Once they arrived, the group said their fairwells to one another, and left to their separate ways, leaving Soifon, Ichigo, and Hiyori, who was still stuffing her slightly freckled face with Pocky.

"So .. I need to check in on my squad…" Soifon said, pushing a hand through her short hair. "I guess I'll see you two later…"

Soifon flash-stepped out of sight, anf Ichigo turned to his short, pocky eating girlfriend.

"Come on, lets head back to the squad five barracks" He said, lacing his fingers with hers. " I hope Akira's been running things ok since we've been gone"

"We've only been gone for a few hours, she's probably fine" Hiyori said, opening another box of pocky. " Let's get back though, I gotta piss"

"Your lady like persona truly astounds me" Ichigo commented sarcastically, before they walked off to their barracks.

They arrived at the barracks a few minutes later, and went to the main area, where the third seat, Akira was at. Akira was on the floor with her feet up on some pillows while she layed with her arms folded under her, as she stared at the ceiling.

"Yo!" Akira said in a calm, even tone, turning her head to look at them. "Your back, Ichigo, Lieutenant Sarugaki"

"Hey, Akira…why are you laying on the floor?" Ichigo asked as he and Hiyori walked forward near her.

"Bored…" Akira replied, keeping a neutral face. " Where did you go, anyways boss?"

"World of the living…had to help our friends" Ichigo said, sitting down on a floor cushion. " We weren't gone long, but was everything fine here at the barracks?"

"Yeah , most of the squad is off doing practice drills" She replied, sitting up. " So,.. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to go train with Zangetsu" Ichigo said walking to the door. " Alone"

"Why can't I come with you?" Hiyori asked, looking peeved. " In fact we should bring, Akira here with us, so she can train too"

Because, some needs to watch the squad" Ichigo said, folding his arms. " The training is going to long, difficult, and since I'm not sure how long it will take, I need you to do your duties as the squad 5 lieutenant"

"Sounds like effort" Akira said, standing up. " I'm not a fan of effort"

"Too bad,… do you know the name of your Zanpaktou?" Hiyori asked, crossing her arms. " What about a technique it's capable off?"

"I know it's name, and can release it… " Akira said, cleaning out her ear. " But I don't know any techniques"

"See, that's why at least she needs to go" Hiyori said, standing her ground. " Just take he with you and help her, moron"

"….Fine, but it's going to be individual training" Ichigo said, opening the door.

"Fine… after you train her first" Hiyori said, giving him a glare. " You're her captain, and it's your responsibility to help her train"

" I guess I really haven't made an effort to get to know you Akira anyways" Ichigo said after a moment of thinking. "Coem on, lets go, it'll take a little bit to get where were going to train"

"Have fun lazy bones, strawberry dumbass" Hiyori said, grinning. " I'll hold don't the fort while your gone"

"It may be several days, so if you want to visit, leave a trust worthy squad member in charge, got it?" Ichig osaid, as he and Akira walked out the door. " And one more thing…. Don't kill to many squad members while were gone… or at least try not to"

Ichigo heard a response of "No promises!" as he asnd Akira made their way out of the squad barracks.

"Akira?" Ichgi said, waiting for a response before continuing. " It's quite a ways to the train area were going.. I don't suppose you know flash-step?"

"Not very well" Akira said, looking up at the taller Soul Reaper.

"We'll then, get on , I'll piggy back you there, it's faster" Ichigo said, crouching down. " Walking would take far too long"

Akira blushed as she nodded and got onto Ichigo's back, before they vanished from sight. Several miles away, outside the seiretei, Ichigo came to a stop, near the enterence to the training cave that was built and trained in, by Yoruichi and Urahara.

"Alright, were here, Akira" Ichigo said, letting her off his back. " Welcome to the personal trainnig cave of Yoruichi Shihon and Kisuke Urahara , former captains of squads 2, and 12"

"So then, lets go in, and start are training" Ichigo said, walking inside, with Akira slowly following. "Be warned now though, I've never trained someone so I'm not really sure what to do, ..so in this case I'll be doing what my teachers did to teach me, and that is to have them work on techniques on their own and then spar with me"

"Ok.. So how do I learn to sue a tachnique of my Zanpaktou?" Akira asked, taking off he headphones.

"Do you know how to enter your inner world, and speak with your Zanpaktou?" Ichigo asked taking Zangetsu off his back.

"Um… to a degree,… I did it to meet my Zanpaktou and hear it's name so I could release it…" Akira said, trailing off. " But I can't do it when ever I want or anything…."

"I figured as much.. And that's why your going to use a special training dummy, created by Urahara to force your Zanpaktou to manifest into the real world" Ichigo said, walkednig over and reaching behind a large boulder. "Take this Dummy over there, and stab your Zanpaktou with it, pour your spiritual pressure your spirit will manifest. When he or she does politely ask it to teach you how to wield him or her better and to it's fullest power"

"Um, ok…" Akira said, "Then what?"

"…they teach you technique.." Ichigo said, calmly. " You know what…stab it now"

Akira did as he asked, and a few moments later there was a puff of smoke. The smoke cleared away to reveal a skinny, but athletic girl with short, dark purple , neck length, hair, streaked with pink and wearing, of all things, a white miniskirt, with thigh length tight pink spandex shorts with a white stripe going down the side of each leg, . In addition, the girl had a small, white, long sleeved jacket on that only went down to a few inches below her chest, with a large pink heart across middle. Underneath the open jacket, was a black tank-top, Around her wrists, were dark red bands, and to top off her strange appearance, she had dark pink calve length boots, with white laces, and trim, and black lip stick. However even all of this was nothing compared to the large, semi-translucent dragon wings on her back.

"How's it going?" The manifested Zanpaktou asked, cheerfully. " Oh, my apologies, I didn't tell you my name… my name is Niiro-hebi, but for right now you may call me Nii for short"

"Um…are you really Akira's Zanpaktou?…" Ichigo asked, in a state of shock.

"Yup!" Nii said grinning, as she walked over behind Akira. " I wonder if you'd look good with pig tails?.."

"Focus please!" Ichigo yelled at her. " How can you be her Zanpaktou?.. Your so cheery, and energetic…while she's.. Well,.. not.., no offence. Zanpaktous are born from a Soul Reaper's soul meaning they should be similar, but your like the complete opposite"

"Technically, I am like her… if she wasn't on medication" Niiro-hebi said, looking over at him. " She was a lot like me before she got sick"

"Oh…well sorry then.. Anywasys I need you to teach her more about yourself so she can use your abilities.." Ichigo said, stabbing his sword into the ground and leaning on it. "If you teach her a power, I can help her perfect it's use"

"…I suppose I could…" Nii replied, tilting her head and putting a finger on her chin. " I'll teach how to use my first ability. I'll tell you what it's called if you master it"

"Ok..ready when you are , I guess" Akira, said trying to get up her energy. "Maybe I should hold off on my medication for the next couple of days.."

"No, that could be dangerous" Ichigo said, putting his hands on her shoulders. " You take the medication fro a reason right?.. So keep taking it, no buts. And that's an order, got it?"

Akira reluctantly nodded, and walked over to her Zanpaktou. "I'm ready, Nii"

"Good.. Then lets begin" Niiro-hebi said grinning at her partner. "Follow me please, sunshine"

"Alright while she's doing that…Master Zangetsu I need your assistence in training, please" Ichigo said to a empty space that was replaced by Ichigo's manifested human form of his Zanpaktou.

"Ichigo… what specifically do you need?" Zangetsu asked, looking over at Ichigo calmly.

"I was knocked around like a rag doll by the leader of the Bounts…though I didn't use my Bankai and it's possible that might be affective against him, but there's no guarantee…" Ichigo said trailing off. " Is there another attack you can teach me , besides regular and enhanced Getsuga Tenshou?"

"Indeed there is..although you are one of only a few of my wielders, I have ever taught this technique to…" Zangetsu said, making the Shikai form of Ichigo's sword appear in his hand. " It will take you several days to learn to use and master it… are you prepared to fight to gain this atatck?"

"I am ready, old man…please entrust me with the knowledge I seek" Ichigo asked, pulling his own Zanpaktou off of his back, and pointing it forward. " I will master it, no matter what"

"Good, I have little doubt you can achive what few others have…" Zangetsu said pointed his sword in the sky. " Now…..come at me. With the intent to kill.. Or you will never gain what you seek. Now,.…GO!"

For nearly the entire day with the exception of a 30 minute break for food and rest, Ichigo and Akira fought their own manifested Zanpaktou. Akira was having a somewhat difficult time due to her lack of energy brought on by her medication, and for the second time that day, she contemplated stopping her medication for the training.

She moved to the side as her Zanpaktou Niiro-hebi slashed at her with a sword, before retaliating with her own attack. She aimed for Niiro-hebi's midsection, but only cut through the cloth of her tank top, but failed to cut into her skin by only millimeters.

"A good strike…. But not enough to cut me, Akira" Niiro-hebi said, jumping back. " Remember, you must cut me and draw blood if you wish me to teach you how to one of my techniques…"

"I understand that… and I will succeed" Akira said, calmly as she stepped into a defensive position. "I will cut you, and earn the right to to be taught to use your power better"

"Good to hear that even without as much energy as you once had, you still have a firey will that burns brightly" Niiro-hebi said, before readying herself for another attack. "There will be no more breaks until either you cut me, or untill nightfall… are ready for this?"

"Does this answer your question?" Akira asked, before charging forward, with deadly slash after slash at Niiro-hebi.

Meanwhile, not too far away Ichigo was battling against Zangetsu. Zagetsu swung his sword foreward, while Ichigo jumped, pulling his legs up with him to avoid the blade. He immediately stabbed his own sword foreward quickly trying to pierce Zangetsu. Zangetsu flash-stepped behind him, but Ichgi ospun around, bring his sword up, and the two blade clashed against one another, making sparks, and a clanking sound.

"Your instincts are truly impressive, Ichigo" Zangetsu said, as their blades pushed against each other. " You might even being more skilled then the others who have wielded me before"

"Thank you for the compliments, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you because of it" Ichigo said, grinning. " Now…. Prepare yourself!"

It was nearly ten thirty at night ,when Zangetsu and Niiro-hebi called it quits for the day.

"How was your training today, Akira?" Ichigo asked ,walking overto her.

"It was..tiring…" Akira said, plopping down on a nearby rock. " Are we going to go all the way back to the aquad barracks before coming back her tomorrow for more trainnig, or somewhere else that's closeby?"

"Neither, were staying here till our training's done" Ichigo said, sitting down next to her. " Knowing Hiyori, she'll be by with dinner soon, and if not then I'll go get some for us, and you can wait here and rest"

Sure enough no more then 15 minutes later Hiyori arrived carrying food with another Soul Reaper Ichigo didn't recongize.

"Hope you two aren't too hungry, I came as soon as I could" Hiyori said, setting down the bags with the food and cooking supplies in them. "By the way, this kid is your fourth seat, Kohei. He agreed to help me carry this shit here"

"Good to meet you, Kohei" Ichigo said, helping Hiyori get dinner ready. "You want to join us for dinner?"

"Th-thank you for the invitaion Ca-Ca-Captain Kurosaki, but I have already eaten" Kohei replied, looking somewhat nervously at his captain. "I-if you will allow I n-need to g-g-get back and begin my patrol d-duties"

"Um, sure. See you around Kohei, thanks for helping Hiyori" Ichigo said, looking somewhat confused at why the young fourth seat was so nervous. "Well, for the rest of us, let get this dinner started, I'm starved"

While they ate Akira explained that the fourth seat of the squad was just naturally a nervous young guy, and he should take any offence to it. After dinner, Hiyori promised to teach her how to better use her sword in combat, before they used the sleeping bags that Yoruichi had stored there, to get some much needed sleep.

Meanwhile, while Ichigo,Hiyori and Akira slept in the Soul Society a long ways away in a huge cavern, located in the outskirts of Karakura, Jin Kariya and his loyal Bounts all sat waiting for him to speak.

"My brothers,… and sister… we stand today, ready to conduct the ext phase of our revenge against the Soul Society and everyone with in it" Kariya said, looking up a the cave ceiling. "With these, the Bittos.. Are the key to gaining more power then you any of us could possibly imagine. A demonstration is in order I think…"

Kariya snapped his fingers and one of the flying insect like creature flew to him.

"These amazing creature can suck out the souls of humans and deliver them to us" Kariya siad, looking out at his fellow Bounts.

"Tell us, what's the difference between using these Bittos, and doing it the old fashioned way?" The elery looking Bount named Sawatari asked, holding his walking cane tightly.

"The reason is that that the souls collected by bittos are of a concentrated and highly pure form" Kariya replied, loong at the old man. " As such we will set these loose on to the humans of the city, and our bosies wil bulid up the energies given to us by the Bittos, the result being our powers will magnify by as much as ten tiems our current level"

"Ten times?.. is that possible?" Yoshi asked, looking excitedly as she licked her lips. "I like the sound of that"

"It is is indeed quite true" The glasses wearing Bount named Ugaki said, grinning. "Myself and master Kariya have made sure of this"

"Indeed..now I will go first and with this drink of pure, concentrated souls ,we will be one step closer to fulfilling our wish for vengence" Kariya said, opening the Bitto and pulling out a small vile, which he poured in to a wine glass. "This is for our dreams.., our future and in memory of the sacrifice that our sister Yoshino gave to make this happen"

He drank the entire glass of liquid, and after a moment his body glowed with bright green energy that had him grinning widely.

Kariya let his grin fade into a normal smile, as he addressed the other Bounts. _Yes… to my dreams and my future… and the end of the Soul Reaper's reign…_

End of chapter 34... To be continued

Thanks for patently waiting , I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. So read, enjoy and review.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 35

While Ichigo and Akira continued their training in the Soul Society, Kariya released the Bittos creatures into Karakura to begin gathering Spiritual Energy. On that faithful night one of Ichigo's friends, Keigo, was out for his nightly run to the convenience store to buy juice.

"It's a nice night out I guess" Keigo said, getting a better grip on his bag of drinks. "I wonder what Ichigo's up to on this night?…"

He turned the corner and walked down the street, humming as he walked, when he suddenly saw a strange bug flying in the sky.

"Huh? What the heck is that?…" He asked, as he stopped walking. "That's one bizarre and big bug"

The bug was suddenly joined by, hundreds of others in the sky, flying around.

"What the… I 'm getting out of here!" Keigo said, as he started running on to find his path blocked by several more large bugs. He tried to run when one of them shot forward and landed on his back. He tensed as it began to slowly drain his spiritual energy, making him feel weak. Just as he felt himself pass out, he heard a slashing sound but, didn't have time to wonder what it was , before he lost consciousness.

"Well that was certainly close, huh, Yoruichi?" Kisuke Urahara said, wiping the bug guts from the Bittos off . " Ichigo's friend almost ended up in a bad way"

"Indeed, but what are these things?" Yoruichi asked, before firing off a kido spell at a swarm of the bugs.

"I'm not sure…but that bug appeared to be absorbing this boy's spiritual pressure…" Urahara said, looking down at Keigo. "I hope he'll be alright… what do you think?"

"I think… this is the work of the Bounts…" Yoruichi said, looking up at the night sky. "And I also think…. That we're in for a hell of battle"

"I'm sure that's an understatement…" Yoruichi said, before picking up Keigo. " I'll get him to the shop and have Tessai check him out, what are you going to do?"

"There are no doubt others at risk from these bugs… I'll keep hunting them down for now, and see if they are indeed the handy work of the Bounts" Urahara relied, putting his Zanpaktou back in it's cane like sheath. " We should inform the Soul Society about this incident, but make sure Ichigo is kept unaware for now. He'll need his strength for whatever the "true ambitions" that the Bount leader spoke of, might be"

Yoruichi flash-stepped out of sight holding onto Keigo, while Urahara looked around and sighed.

"Oh well… guess I should get my bug hunting started" Urahara said, flashed-stepping away.

Minutes later he reappeared a few blocks away, and looked around.

"Hmm.. Where are those… ah!, there they are" He said, pulling out his cane sword. " Time for some abnormal, spiritual pressure draining bug killing"

He flash stepped again, and several bugs exploded, cut down buy his sword, with was held out in front of him.

"Eww… bug guts.. Sorry Benihime, using you for a glorified bug killer isn't the most glamorous thing, but it has to be done" Urahara said, wiping the blade off, with his coat. "I have to save as many people as possible from these things… time to move"

As Kisuke made off into the night, Aizen sat down at the long conference table to drink his tea. " Good of you to join me, Gin. Have a seat, I know that you're here, hiding in the shadows"

"I just can't fool you huh, Lord Aizen?" Gin said, stepping out of the shadows by the back wall. "So…. I have a report on Kariya, if your interested"

"Indeed…how is the fool and his band of misfits doing?" Aizen asked, indifferently, as he closed his eyes and sipped from his tea. "Are they doing well with their goals?"

"To some degree yes, although a strange report came from Kariya ,concerning the substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki" Gin said, drinking some sake instead of tea. "It seems he's no longer a mere substitute… he's been made a captain and full time Soul Reaper…."

"Has he?" Aizen asked, genuinely and visibly surprised by the information. "I don't not believe I would have ever expected something like this to occur… do we know which squad he is captain of?"

"Unfortunately we do not yet know that, though it will no doubt be discovered soon enough" Gin replied, swirling his sake around in its cup. "Still… making the human Substitute a full Soul Reaper and captain, is quite something huh?.. oh and word is he's gotten stronger as well"

"A captain, and a stronger Soul Reaper too… he could be trouble for us" Aizen said, standing up, and walking out to the balcony the looked out over Hueco Mundo . "Gin…. I want Kariya to observe everything about Ichigo Kurosaki.. His strengths, weaknesses, everything"

"Of course… I'll make sure he 's told" Gin said, downing the last of his sake. "Anything else?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact… there is" He replied, looking over his shoulder at Ichimaru. "Make sure he knows that his usefulness…is coming to an end"

Ichimaru gave his patented snake grin and walked out of sight, leaving Aizen to enjoy the silence and think to himself, _Ichigo Kurosaki… such a trouble maker, who keeps getting in my way…. Just like your father is … and your mother was…_

As Gin went to relay the message to Kariya, Ichigo didn't really want to get out of the sleeping bag, and get back to training. He liked training a lot , but his sleeping bag was warm… surprisingly warm. He opened his eyes and instead of seeing the training area he saw a lot of blond hair. Opening his eyes further he saw it was Hiyori and realized she was in his sleeping bag with him Despite the fact that they had often slept in the same bed as one another, he couldn't help but blush a bit.

He grinned to himself before wrapping in arm around her, making her snuggling into him. _Hard to believe that someone who's usually so harsh and rude, can be so sweet and cute when their sleeping, _Ichigo thought to himself.

"Hey beautiful, think we ought to get up?" Ichigo asked, being bold and kissing her on the neck.

"Don't want to… and your not either, you're my heat source" Hiyori mutter out to him, smiling at his kiss. "Now shut up, hold me, and sleep"

"As much as I'd love to stay here with the snaky midget I love.. I do have to get back to training with Zangetsu" He said, giving her a gentle squeeze before letting go of here, and sitting up. " Stupid Bounts making me get up and train to learn more to fight them.."

"Fine then you get up, I'm not the one training here, dumbass" Hiyori said, elbowing him. "Go…train.. Learn a kick-ass move, and then you can beat the shit out of the Bounts"

"Right,.. I'll go see if Akira's up so she can continue her training too" Ichigo said, putting on his Shihakusho top, and sleeveless captain's Haori. "See ya later, my little snaggletooth"

"Go fuck yourself…." Hiyori said ,grinning and pulling him forward to kiss him roughly. " Unless you want my help in that area"

"Uh…. I'll.. Uh see you later…" Ichigo said, dark red in the face as he grabbed his sword and ran off in a hurry.

"Oh well… guess he's not ready to do the horizontal tango with me just yet…" Hiyori said, nonchalantly. " Guess I should get up though, I gotta get back to the barracks, make those idiot squad members behave.."

Hiyori got dressed and gave Ichigo a yell of bye and flash-stepped away, leaving the already awake Akira, and her boyfriend Ichigo to training. Ichigo gave Akira the training doll, subconsciously hoping Urahara wouldn't be mad about Akira using a Bankai training tool for simple Shikai training. He walked away from her and had Zangetsu manifest do he could continue his own training.

"Ichigo are you ready to continue?" Zangetsu asked, calmly standing in front of him. " You are close to mastering this move…. And as soon as you do, I will tell you it's name"

"Right.. I can almost release it every time I try…. Another day or so and I'll have it down I think..then it's just a matter of a field test against the Bounts" Ichigo said, taking his sword and readying himself. "I'm ready when you are old man"

"Well then Ichigo …" Zangetsu said, as he held his own sword up and it glowed with power. "…Prepare yourself"

Ichigo dodged Zangetsu's sudden and swift new attack that he was teaching him, rolled to the side and unleashed the same attack, although not a precise or powerful as his, right back at him. Zangetsu easily sidestepped the attack and butted him in his back with the handle of his sword making Ichigo stumble.

"Pay attention to your opponant, never take your eyes off of him or her" Zangetsu said, before unleashing the new attack again.

The attack it's self was amazing to be hold and made his Getsuga Tenshou look like child's play in comparison. Zangetsu poured his power into the sword making it glow with bluish white energy, before swinging it vertically, unleashing a giant dragon of energy that roared as it it flew at him at high speeds, moving with him as he jumped to the side. The dragon roared again, before hitting only inches from where Ichigo was at only moments before, saved by his high speed flash-step.

Ichigo landed and looked at the destruction left from when the dragon hit the mountain behind him, and shuttered, glad that it wasn't him who had been hit by it. The mountain that had been there was now gone replaced, by an area that looked as through it had been tunnled away.

"Come… lets us continue… you have almost mastered it" Zangetsu said, waiting for Ichigo.

"Right…." Ichigo said, taking a deep breath and griped the handel of his Zanpaktou tightly. " I will master this attack"

Elsewhere, Akira's happy go lucky Zanpaktou was getting a bit frustrated by the lack of success from her wielder.

"No , you were doing better the first time.. Try again" Akira Zanpaktou, Niiro-hebi said, trying to atill be positive. "Just take a deep breath and feel your spiritual presure flow from your body into your sword…."

"Right, sorry… I usually don't do this much physical activity" Akira said, boredly. " So I have to charge up my spiritual Pressure in my sword while in released form and release it as I call out, "Dokueki higyou!" right?…"

"Yup! Now try again" Niiro-hebi replied simply.

Ichigo and Akira continued their trianing for that day, stopping for lunch and dinner, this time without Hiyori, and did the same for the next day, with Ichigo and Akira both succeeding in fulfilling their goals/ training.

"Nw then Ichigo… show me what you have learned" Zangets said, standing still in beside him.

"Right!" Ichigo said, pouring his Spiritual Pressure in his sword. "Getsuga!… Chi-doragon-sho!"

The wave of dragon shaped energy that roared, flew out of his blade and tore into the earth, leaving a almost nothing left in it's wake. Ichigo grinned and knelt down, out of breath from using a lot of energy In the attack.

"Good Ichigo, mostly" Zangetsu sai, looking over at his wielder. "However you still use far too much energy in it so for now, only use this technique for a final attack against an enemy or if you have no other option left"

"Yeah… *huf* I figured that" Ichgi osaid, already mostly back to full energy. " So…are we done for now, old man?"

"Yes… it is up to you to practice his attack on your own for now on…" Zangetsu said, making his copy of Ichigo's sword disappear from sight. "My final word of advice till I see you again…. When you face Kariya again..do not hold nack, give him everything you have, even if you must kill him to stop him"

"kill him?… why can't I just defeat him…?" Ichigo asked, putting his Zanpaktou on his back. "As long as he's stopped, does it matter how it's done?… besides I've always thought of you as a … peacefull-ish Zanpaktou"

"While it is true that like you, I do not like to fight unless it is to protect.. This is a dangerous situation" Zangetsu replied, looking up at the fake sky painted on the ceiling of the large training cave. " During your last battle with him, much like the brief one against Aizen, I sensed that he was only playing with us, and had a aura that told me he will not hesitate to kill. If you do not kill him ..he will kill you, it is that simple…..so goodbye for now, and good luck, my young friend"

Sighing, Ichigo made his way over to a resting Akira, her Zanpaktou's manifested self gone.

"Hey Akira, if your rested how about we have a friendly spar?…" Ichigo asked, coming to a stop near her.

"A spar?…*sigh*…. Ok, if you want, Captain…. I mean, Ichigo" Akira said, standing up and stretching. "Whenever your ready?"

"Come on, , and the only rules is only sealed state fro your sword during this spar, were not trying to hurt each other afterall" Ichigo said, taking his sword of his back. "Agreed?"

"Sure..but what about you? Can you unreleased your sword too?" Akira asked pulling out her sord from it's scabbeard.

"Uh, I can't exactly do that , Akira" Ichigo said, running his hand through his hair. " I've never been able to seal it"

"Wait , what do you mean you can't seal it?" Akira asked rasing her eyebrows. " Juat how much Spiritual Pressure do you have?"

"I don't know for sure but's above the head Captain at least…. Though my control is about third or fourth seat I think" Ichgio explained calmly.

"Woah…. that's' … insane" Akira comment, gripping her sword. " But won't this be an unfair fight with my sealed sword against your Shikai ?"

"Nor really, my Zanpaktou is a melee type, so it's strickly that, not the other one.. Uh, Kido type I think it's called" Ichigo said getting into a fighting stance. " Now, enough stalling, lets go"

Hiyori had decided to show up and see her boyfriend Ichigo, after not seeing him at all the day before. She walked inside the training cave, and found him and her squad's third seat, Akira, sparing.

Hiyori knew Ichigo would win with no problem, but wondered how much he would hold back against his third seat during the spar. She knew that Ichigo didn't really seem to be aware of the phrase "Hold back", and hoped Akira didn't get too hurt by fight's end. She also couldn't help but notice that his sword was still wrapped in it's white cloth, even though he was in battle, nad found herself curious about the properties of the cloth. It seemed to wrap itself around the blade when he wasn't fighting with it, and unwrapped on it's own, shortening it's length at the same time.

She also knew that Ichigo had used the cloth for bandaging wounds and seemed to be as endless in length as it was indestructible. Her own Zanpaktou had no secondary feature, making her almost wish it was like his.. Or even Rangiku, who she knew had a hollow part in her handle that held Saki for her to drink. _I definitely have to ask him about it the next time I have the chance… _she shook her head, focusing on watching the spar, only to find that it was almost over, as her mind had been wandering off. She knew it was over because Akira looked tired out, and Ichigo, though not striking to kill, or even injury really, was pushing her back in the spar, making her defend, without any opportunities to attack and would no doubt end any moment now.

Sure enough a few minutes later ,after Ichgio moved to the side to avoid Akira's blade, he held his word up agains her throat, making her wield to him , and making him the winner. Seeing it was over Hiyori made her way over to them, please to see that he did in fact hold back, for a change

"I suck, huh?" Akira asked, wiping sweat off of her forehead, and putting her Zanpaktou back in it's sheath.

"Not at all, you did quite well, considering my training" Ichigo said, putting his magically rewrapped Zanpaktou on his back. "We'll have to do this again, and making later today or tomorrow I can start teaching you, using the training I learned from my teacher, Former squad 12 Captain Kisuke Urahara"

"Former captain of squad 12?…. "whistle"…. no wonder your so good, Captain" Akira said, sitting down on a nearby rock. " So what now…. Break?"

"Something like that,… we need to get back to the barracks,… me and Hiyori have been skipping out on paperwork, and leaving it to you to deal with…." Ichigo said, "That's not really fair to make you do it all"

"It's not that bad… I usually make the other squad members do it…. Or ignored it all together" Akira replied,giving a small grin.

"Great minds think alike.." Hiyori said, grinning back at her.

"If you two can consider yourself great minds…" Ichigo said ,with a small grin of his own.

He promptly recieveda smak to the back of his head, and turned to dee Hiyori holding her sandel in her hand, with a glare.

The three of them then headed back to the squad 9 barracks, arriving a short time later to a mostly quiet area, untill they heard a few squad members arguing about something.

"Something wrong…ladies?" Ichgio asked with a scowl on his face.

"Ladies? Who the wise ass who thinks it's cool to…CAPTAIN!" a short red headed Soul Reaper exclaimed. " I'm sorry. Please forgive me sir!"

"Maybe I will…., if someone tells me what you two idiots are arguing about" Ichigo replied, crossing his arms.

"Uh, she started it sir! It's Eri's turn to sweep the lunch area this week, but she says it's mine!" The red head man, Said to him.

"But..but I traded this week to Mayumi in return for doing her chore of nightshift guard duty" Eri, a tall green haired girl replied said, stuttering bit. " How is it my fault she got injured during a hollow battle the other day, Suguru?"

"I never said it was your fault for her injuries, you idiot but if she can't do your chore then you have to!" Suguru yelled up at her. "I'm not doing your chore that's for sure, I have my own duties. I may have promised to help her out, but that was before I got extra patrol duty"

"But-"

"Enough!" Ichigo yelled, at them. "Both of you stop acting like kids! You, Eri was it?.. Forget about doing the sweeping and lunch area clean up, go do ..what were your were planning to do. Red head kid, forget about your extra patrol, do the lunch area. It's solved , so get to it"

"But sir, how is it fair that-" Surguru started. But was cut off by Hiyori.

"You heard your captain, so get your ass moving, pencil dick,. Now!" Hiyori said, grabbing Suguru by his collar and giving him a cold look. " If I have to make you do it, I won't be as nice as Ichigo.. Got me?"

"Uh…y-yes ma'am" Suguru guled, before she let go of him.

"Go then, now" Hiyori, growled out, making Suguru run out the door as fast as he could.

"So.. Now that your do scaring the crap out of people.. We should get to my office and start on the dreded paper work, Hiyori" Ichigo said unfazed by her. "Akira, you can go ahead and take a break or whatever your suppose to do as third seat…."

Akira nodded and made her way out of the room, leaving Hiyori alone with Ichigo.

"So...to the paper work?" Ichigo asked, walking to the door. "The sooner we get it over the soon, we were done with it… and have some time for just the two of us as well"

Hearing the second part, Hioyi looked up excitely, and grabbed him by the arm dragging him out the door by the wrist and all the way to Ichigo's office.

After arriving they immediently got to work, gonnig over the back log of paper work Akira hadn't done, and Ichigo had the suspcioing that after hearing how much Rangiku complained about doing paper work that she's be the first to laugh at him for having to do so much..

While Rangiku sneezed and shot Saki out her nose over at the squad 10 Barracks, making others laugh at her, Ichigo and Hiyori continued through the paper work for the next few hours, making them both wish paper work could be as easily defeated as a hollow could. After about 3 hours passed Hiyori dropped her pen and walked over to the bed, (since the room was used as both Ichigo's office and bedroom) and plooped down on it, sighing.

"I hate paper work… more then I hate Aizen right now" She said, putting her arms under her head. " Join me Ichigo"

"I suppose we could both use a break from this crap.. I mean paper work…." Ichigo said ,standing up and stretching before sitting down on the bed next to her.

"You know Ichigo.. We really having spent much time alone lately… and you did say we could after are paper work…" Hiyori said, grinning, and sitting up.

She placed her chin on his shoulder and hugged him around his shoulders. Ichigo blushed and smiled at her, pulling out of her arms, and pulling her around so that her head on to his lap faceing up at him. He undid her hair from its pigtails, and gently,stroked her head with one hand.

"So what did you have in mind, my little snaggel tooth?" Ichigo asked, making her blush.

"Well…. How about I just show you.. Rather then tell you ?" SHe said, sitting back up, and pushing down on to the bed. " We wont go to far…. But.. We've been dating fro some tiem and only kiss and hug.. I want more"

"I.. I do too" Ichigo said face red as she undid and took off the top part of her Shihakusho, reviling her breasts wrappings. " Just how far did you mean?"

"Under clothing stay… but that doesn't mean we can have som …fun together" Hiyori said unting the top of his Shihakusho. "So for the next few hours… your mine, and no one elses."

Only a few people came by near office over the next few hours and all of them reported hear the same thing, moaning and moving around. Eventually, a messenger came by and knocked on the door, asking for Ichigo.

"Go away…what do you want?" Ichigo asked in a annoyed eone as he lay in his bed in his under wwear with a equally underwear clad Hiyori laying on top on him, arms around him and a smile on her slightly freckled face.

"I have a message for you from Head Captain Yamamoto, sir" The messenger said through the door. "There will be captains meeting in 10 minutes at the squad one barracks ,and you are required to attend, Captain Kurosaki, sir"

"Is that all?" Ichigo asked, calmly.

"Uh, yes sir" He replied to Ichigo.

"Ok then, messege received, now go away" Ichigo said, back, sighing.

After he was sure he was gone, Ichigo brushed some loose hair out of Hiyori's face.

"Hey, sweety.. I got a captain's meet to get to" He said to her semi-sleeping form.

"No fair…. But what are you gongi to do?… the old man can get annoying… " Hiyori replied, sleepily. "So get your cute ass moving. And let me enjoy the warmth of our bed"

"Fine, little miss greedy" Ichigo said as she rolled off of him ,and he covered her up in the blankets, before getting his robes back on. " I'll see you in a little while, Hiyori"

He kissed her on her forehead,and made his way out the door, sliding it closed behind him, and flash-stepping his way to the meeting at the squad 1 barracks.

"Stupid old man better have a good reason for calling a meeting out of nowhere like this…" Ichigo said, landing out side the barrcks and walking to thhw meeting area. "Hey, Captain Uketaki…. I mean Jushiro, hows it going?"

"Oh Ichigo ,hello my young friend, I am doing ok for the most part" Uketaki said smiling warmly. "How are you doing?"

"Can't complain to much I guess.." Ichig replied,cracking his neck. " Any idea why the old man wants us for?"

"Yes as a matter of fact, but it's best to wait until were gathered inside, so It only has to said once" Uketaki replied, as they walked into the opening doors.

All the rest of the Captains were already there waiting in line, most of them looking bored… except for Soifon who blushed at seeing Ichigo, Kurosush who looked as insane as ever, and Toshiro who sported several bandages that were visible though his Shihakusho top, and frown on his face.

"Ah, Captain Ukitake welcome back in side,…Captain Kurosaki, good of you two to show up at last" Yamamoto replied, giving both the men a nod. "In the furture I would ask you too show up earlier for meeting, as a way of setting good examples to rank-less Soul Reapers and your own squad as well"

Ichigo gritted his teeth but nodded to him as he took he and Captain Ukitake took their place in line next to Captain Kyoraku, who gave small smle and nod to both of them.

"Now that we are here, we can begin.." Yamamoto said, looking at Ukitake. " Jushiro, you can begin"

"Yes, of course sir" Ukitake ,said, clearing his throat. "We have discovered further information about what we believe the Bounts are up to, after Ichigo and me initially went looking through the files…"

End of chapter 35... To be continued

Thanks for waiting for so long everyone, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. So please read, enjoy and review.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 36

" As I was saying, we have discovered further information about what we believe the Bounts are up to, after Ichigo and me initially went looking through the files" Ukitake said, looking around at everyone. "Our investigation has pointed to forbidden research that was headed by a Soul Reaper named Ran'Tao"

"What kind of research?" Ichigo asked, not linking where the conversation was going.

"Long ago, before the Department of Research and Development was created, researchers were working on a way to make Soul Reapers immortal" Ukitake said, looking at Ichigo.

"Wait, I thought Soul Reapers were immortal?" Ichigo asked, confused. "I mean ,the head captain is like what? Seven or eight hundred years old?"

"Quite flattering Young Ichigo, but I am a great deal older then that.." Captain Yamamoto said, with a barely noticeable smile. "However, even though Soul Reapers can live a very long time, thousands of years in fact, we are not truly immortal"

"I see…but what about those experiments?" Ichigo asked, looking back at Ukitake. " And what do they have to do with the Bounts?"

"…. Before many of the current laws were in effect., and at a time when central 46 had many ..corrupt members, they performed the experiment Jushiro mentioned with some…unintended side effects.." Kyoraku said, holding the edge of his hat. " Their was an accidental explosion during the experiments, and it effect a large number of souls that were in the Cycle of Transmigration and about to be reborn in the world of the living… this created a new breed of human with powers that are very similar to Quincys. We called them the Bounts"

"Wait! The Soul Society created the Bounts!" Ichigo asked loudly, stepping out of the line of fellow captains. "Then...why are they after us?…"

"Stupid boy, the reason is not what is important here, stopping them is" Captain Kurotsuchi said, in a irritated voice. "Besides, this information was not known to anyone, prior to looking up old files ,that were well hidden"

"Like that matters, you freak job. You said the Bounts were created here, but will need to have the reason. If we find that, maybe we can find out what their planning to do" Ichigo said, yelling at him. " Jushiro, do we know why they'd be after us?"

"Fortunately, or unfortunately , depending on how you look at it, that information was also discovered" Ukitake replied, sighing. "It seems that there was a ..decree issued… the Bounts, as you are aware, have been called vampires, because of what they do. There was at time when they decide to take souls of those still alive instead of those who were dying.. And the Soul Society did not wait for long to deal with the threat to the world of the living"

"What…what did they do?.." Ichigo asked, cautiously.

"…. They attempted to kill them off of course, as should have been done from the very beginning" Kurotsuchi sneered, as he folded his arms. " The explosion that created them destroyed nearly a tenth of the Seireitei, not to mention they continuously disrupt the balance of the worlds, almost as much as the Quincys did. The souls they absorb to remain immortal, do not pass on to the Soul Society after all"

"Why is it the Soul Society tries to solve every problem it has ,by killing someone or something..?" Ichigo asked, gritting his teeth. "Quincys, Mod Souls, Vizards, and now the Bounts… seriously, what the hell is wrong with you people?"

"We never said we were happy with every decision made, Ichigo…" Captain Unohana said, looking a little serious. " All we can do is try to make up for past sins,…walk forward, and make for a better future.."

"As good as that sounds, we need to focus on the Bount problem for the time being…" Kyoraku said, sighing. " Jushiro, was there anything else important we should know?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there was one more thing… It seems that at one point the Bounts attempted to take revenge on the Soul Reapers for trying to annihilate them, and when they did, they sought the assistance of the Quincys" Ukitake replied, to him and the others. "However, despite bad relations with the Soul Reapers, the Quincy not only refused to help them, they even teamed with the Soul Reapers, in order to repel the Bounts attack"

"The Quincy's helped the Soul Reapers?…why?… The Soul Reapers tried to kill them too…" Ichigo asked in surprised. " … So what do we do now, old man Yamamoto?"

"What do we do you ask, young Kurosaki? It is quite obvious… defeat them at all costs" The Head Captain replied, with his eyes closed. " The Bounts are dangerous to both us and humans alike, they must be stopped as soon as possible"

"Hmmm…. Well, if this meeting is over with I need to go get something to eat… I'm starved" Ichigo said, heading towards the main door. "Se ya later, Shunsui, Jushiro, Kenpachi, and Soifon"

"Ichigo Kurosaki… leaving the room before the Head Captain has dismissed us is both rude, and not allowed" Byakuya said, turning just his eyes in Ichigo's direction.

"Tough shit, I'm hungry, so I'm going to go eat" Ichigo said ,opening the door. " You wanna stop me, be my guest and try. But just remember, I kicked your ass in our last fight, and that was before I trained more with my Zanpaktou, and this time you'd be leaving in a body bag…if your lucky"

"Now that's a fight I'd like to see" Kenpachi said , grinning and licking his lips.

"Silence, everyone…" Yamamoto said, pounding his can on the floor just once and unleashing a small ounce of his enormous spiritual pressure, making almost everyone at least flinch a little. " The meeting is not officially over yet, so be still"

"Whatever ,I'm still out of here" Ichigo said, as she flash-stepped out the open door, seemingly unaffected by the head Captain's spirit energy.

"Ichigo!" Soifon yelled after him, leaning out of the Captain line up. "… he really is stubborn…"

"Should he not be punished for leaving without permission, Head Captain?" Byakuya asked ,looking over at him.

"He is quite stubborn, foolish, and doesn't do as others tell him…. But what good would punishment serve?… if we striped him of rank, he'd go back to the world of the living. If we demoted him, his lieutenant, Hiyori Sarugaki, would take his place, and still follow his orders" Yamamoto said, looking over at Byakuya. "Besides, walking out on a meeting is hardly a major violation, if it was, I suspect Captain Zaraki would be in trouble quite often. And further more, we have a great need of him against both these Bounts and Aizen. We can not afford to lose him support"

Ichigo came to a stop not far from the squad one barracks, where he began to walk slowly, trying to remember where the mess hall was. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was walking and ran into someone.

"Hey watch where your going you little….Rukia?" Ichigo asked in surprise ,as he looked down at the short girl who was on her but on the ground.

"Ichigo ?" Rukia exclaimed, looking up. "… Moron, I haven't seen you in how many chapters of this story and the first thing you do when you see me, is knock me down?"

"…. Eh, bite me , midget" Ichigo said, with a smirk. "You need a hand?"

"A hand ?,yes…then again you want me to bite you ,…so does that mean your one of those guys with a pain equals pleasure thing?" Rukia asked with a evil grin..

"Say what!" Ichigo yelled out, red faced. "Get your stupid assed mind out of the gutter, you little pervert!"

"Relax, you prude. I'm just kidding.." Rukia said, holding out her hand ,waiting for him to help her stand up. "I just hadn't see you in a bit, and felt like teasing you.. If I say I'm sorry, will you help me up?"

"… Fine, here" Ichigo said, grabbing her hands and standing her upright. "So what are you doing here, anyways?"

"I was taking a break from assisting Kiyone and Sentaro with paperwork, and going to meet Captain Ukitake" Rukia said, as they walked along the wooden floors. "Then I going to take a break and get something to eat… did you find out anything useful at the Captain's meeting?"

"Only that once again, the Soul Society tried to kill the Bount soon after they created them by accident" Ichigo said bitterly. " You can just add it to the list of problems they've tried to solve by killing… as if trying to work things out is a foreign thing to them.."

"We created the Bounts?… how?… when?" Rukia asked in surprise. " And what's the plan to deal with them?"

"The usual…. Kill them… look, I'm hungry and rather not talk about the Soul Society's "great" plan for dealing with the Bounts right now… I'm sure Jushiro will tell you later" Ichigo said, sighing. "now, show me again, where the mess hall is, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure" Rukia said, as they walked off. "I can meet up with Captain Ukitake afterwards, there's no rush"

After arriving at the mess hall Ichigo got some Donburi ( meat or fish and vegetables served with rice) , and cold green tea, while Rukia had Tataki Bonito ( a unique way of cooking skipjack fish), with rice and cold green tea. As they ate and caught up, Ichigo felt something land on his shoulder and small arms around his neck. He looked over to see Yachiru , who smiled brightly at him.

"Hey Ichi! Hey Shorty!" Yachiru said, waving with one hand. "How's it going?"

" I'm doing alright I suppose..how about you Yachiru?" Ichigo asked ,patting the little girl on the head, and making her giggle. " You manage to put little pink bows on Kenpachi's spiky hair yet?"

"I'm also doing well and..wait!, pink hair bows?" Rukia asked, confused and surprised. "Do I even want to know?"

"Ichi and me though it would be funny to put pink bows in Kenny's hair after he spikes it up in the mornings.." Yachiru said, grinning. "But after the last time I tried it, he started locking his door when he does his hair… I'm thinking of putting something in his sake to knock him out so I can put them in…what do you think?"

"Um…I'm not sure the best idea ever… not to mention the safest." Ichigo, said cringing. "Why don't you ask him to let you put them in… tell him it will make you very sad if you can't..you know, use your cuteness to your advantage"

"Hmmm ..great idea Ichi!" Yachiru said, laughing. "After I eat I'll go back to the squad 11 barracks and do just that… I'm going to go get some food, be right back!..oh and Ichi, you better not be hitting on me...hehehe see ya in a moment!"

"Really Ichigo, I know you liked short girls , but I didn't think you liked them that short" Rukia said grinning. "I must say though, at least you can't be accused of dating a girl that's too young, she is much older then you after all… though I wonder what your girlfriend, Hiyouri would think?.."

"Sh-sh-shut up, you stupid midgit! I think of Yachiru like a third little sister! Sheesh!" Ichigo said red faced. "I think you've been spending too much time around perverts or something… can we talk about something , that's not perverted for once?"

"Relax, I was only joking… besides, Hiyori told me I should say something like that when I saw you today" Rukia siad, laughing. "She was right, you really do react in a great way"

"She told you to say that?. Did you see her before you met up with me or something?" Ichigo asked taking a bite of his donburi. "And how did she know I'd see Yachiru here?"

"Because I ran into Hiyori and we saw Yachiru hopping across the roof tops, towards the mess hall about 5 minutes before I met you near the squad 1 barracks" Rukia said simply as she took a sip of her tea. " Messing with you, is something we both take great pleasure in doing.."

"Nice to see I amuse you and Hiyori so well…" Ichigo said, grumbling. "By the way where was Hiyori off to, anyways? Did she say?"

"Hmm?.. Oh yeah, she said she was on her way to Captain Unohana about something…didn't say what" Rukai replied, thinking back. "Hope nothings wrong"

"Yeah, me too…guess I'll have to ask her later after I eat.." Ichigo said, as Yachiru reappeared, with a plate full of chicken curry and rice and somehow, a bunch of candy too . "Oh hey, welcome back"

Yachiru gave him a grin before hopping into a chair, and digging in.

"Make sure you eat your meal before the candy, by the way" Ichigo said, eating his own food.

"…Yes, Ichi" Yachiru said, soundly slightly disappointed, but doing as he said, nonetheless.

As Ichigo, Rukia and Yachiru ate, Hiyori was at the squad 4 barracks medical center about to talk to Squad 4 captain and head doctor, Retsu Unohana.

"Please have a seat, Lieutenant Sarugaki" Unohana said, smiling as Hiyori did. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"Well…it's not that I have problem …yet… it's more like… well.. As you are probably aware, Ichigo is my boyfriend and we haven't ..done the horizontal tango yet" Hiyori said, with a very red face. " As you also know when we pass on and come to the Soul Society, we don't retain our memories, so I…don't… I don't really no much about…"it" and wanted to know about "it" and if in the distant future if I were to get knocked up, the only thing I know about… se- se- sex, if there would be any problems for me"

"Hmm.. I see… you wish to know about sex… a rather simple thing I guess. I can give you some information to read up on if you wish…" Captain Unohana said pulling out a few books, and handing them to Hiyori. "As for any problems related to being pregnant, I'm afraid there very well might be if I'm correct…"

As Hiyori talked with Captain Unohana, Ichigo finished eating and told Rukia he'd see her later, before walking off ,back to his barracks, with Yachiru hitching a ride on his back for a while. She eventually hopped off and said bye as she headed to squad 11, saying she was going to ask Kenny about the hair bows.

Ichigo finally arrived aback at the squad 5 barracks, and headed to his office/room, just as Hiyori appeared , carrying several books in her hands, and looking a little preoccupied.

"Hey...something wrong Hiyori?" Ichigo asked, following her into their room they shared. "Hiyori?"

"Oh, Ichigo ..it's… nothing, nothing important anyway…" Hiyori said, puttting the stack of books down on the floor, by the desk. "So how the meeting? Find anything out usefull about those Bount bastards?"

"Yeah, but your more important then some crap about the Bounts…" Ichigo said, kneeling down a little and hugging the girl. " Now tell me whats' wrong… where's the sarcastic, violent little girl I know and love?"

"…"

"No come back?.. Now I know something's wrong… Come here" Ichigo said, pulling her onto his lap as he sat down on the edge of their bed. " You know you tell me anything….and you've never been shy about it before ,so spit it out"

"I … I went to Captain Unohana to learn soemthings about…well, sex, for when were both eventually ready…" Hiyori said with a reddening face. " I also had a feeling about some ..complications that might happen if I were to ever, theoretically get pregnant…"

"Se-sex…?.. I see…" Ichgi stuttered with a even redder face then hers. " And what kind of..problems did you find out about.."

"Well, as you know, I'm ..well, short, not even four and a half feet tall, to your nearly six feet in height… and because I'm so mall in height, and weight… well…" Hiyori said, looking downward. "It might not be the best thing in the world for my health, and more specifically my hip and knee joints , if I got pregnant. The weight a girl gains could cause a lot of stress to those joints, which Captain Unohana said could be very painful and problematic when I rejoined the force of Soul Reapers.."

"…."

"Not to mention, the fact that I'd have to probably get a c-section done for delivery.. Which is not something I'd look forward too" Hiyori said, sighing. "In other words ,if you ever had a desire to be a dad someday, and our still with me, a baby might not happen… it's not impossible since plenty of short women have babies all the time, but it's probably bettter to air on the side of caution, and all that crap"

"Well, we haven't even..done it yet, and we're both a little too young to be parents…or least I am…" Ichigo said, holding her close. "Besides, whatever happens, and despite your sarcasim, foul mood, and quick temper… I still love your short little snaggletoothed self, and will be right here for you, no matter what…"

"Thanks, but just one problem now.." She said, elbowing him in his stomach. "Too much touchy feely shit for one day.. Lets do something destructive, like go find some hollows to kill or something"

"Yeah ok, but mabe we can just work the squad really hard in training drills instead" Ichigo said, holding his stomach. " Shall we?"

"Yeah,.. Let's get our squad" Hiyori said ,hopping off his lap. "But before that, we need to turn in our paperwork to the Squad 1 barracks..probably should have taking it with you earlier"

"Yeah, let gather it up and go deliver it" Ichigo said, standing up.

The two of them got the paperwork, and headed back to the Squad 1 building to drop it off. After delivering it, they made their way back to their own barracks to do squad drills, and ran into Captain Kyoraku.

"Oh, hey their Ichigo, Lieutenant Sarugaki, where are you off to?" Kyoraku asked, in his usual laid back manner.

"We had to turn in our squad's paperwork and were heading back to the squad 5 barracks.." Ichigo said, calmly. " What about you, Shunsui ?"

"Me?, Old man Yama, wants me to go and be a guest speaker at the academy today… even though I'd rather just have a drink" He replied, grinning. "Oh, before I forget, how come your back to wearing a track suit instead of your Shihakusho, Lieutenant ?"

"I haven't wore one regularly in over a hundred years, so why start now?" Hiyori said, crossing her arms. "I'm more comfortable in a track suit anyways"

"Well, be that as it may, Soul Reaper etiquette does require you to wear your Shihakusho, especially on missions or ceremonies…" Kyoraku said, politly. "I also see you not even wearing your Lieutenant's badge on your arm, or anywhere else for that manner. You should at least wear that,.."

""Where is the squad 5 Lietenant badge you received anyways ?" Ichigo asked, looking down at his girlfriend. "I remember you getting one…"

"Probably in our office still… I think I shoved it in one of the desk's drawers" Hiyori said, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. " If it makes you feel any better, I'm wearing underwear with the squad 5 symbol on them"

"Um,… tht;s probably not something you should go around telling people so casualy" Ichigo said with a tiny nose bleed. " Anyways, we really need to get going to do squad drills…, see ya later captain pervo"

"What?…oh yeah see ya around Ichigo, you lucky little bastard…hehehe" Hyoraku said, with his own minor nose bleed. "Oh and before I forget, unless the Bounts or someone else, suddenly attack us, the Head captain want's you to both to be guests at the Soul Reaper academy as well. He wants you two to go tomorrow morning"

"Super…. That sound like a shit load of fun…" Hiyori said, frowning. " Still, maybe we can really fuck with the new students there… that might be fun"

"Yeah, though you may want to tone down the swearing a bit… and maybe remember wear a bra…you tend to either wear a wrap, or nothing at all" Ichigo said, blushing a bit.

"Sheesh, don't give pervo here more stuff to get a nose bleed over…" Hiyori said, face palming herself and grabbing onto Ichigo's sleeve to pull him along. "See ya later, Shunsuei, come on Strawberry. Let s go tourture, I mean, train the squad"

"Have fun you two…" Kyoraku said, with tissues in his nose. "Try not to send to many people to the infirmary today, I'm sure Captain Unohana would be grateful "

"No promises!" Hiyori yelled back, as she and Ichigo walked off.

A little later, squad 5 was out in it's training field, waiting for orders.

"Allrights, magots, we'll start with some basic sword swings" Hiyori said, puling her sword out of it sheath. " One swing to attack and one to defend. Basic academy stuff, so get to it. Just watch what I do and I want you all to do it about….hmm,… 30 times. Before we move on… are their are any questions?"

"Uh, I have one lieutenant" A male Soul Reaper with green hair said, rasing his hand. "Why are you giving orders, instead of our captain their?"

"Because this moron, started his carrer as a human and Substitute Soul Reaper in the world of the living.. He never went to the academy and doesn't know how to really do the drills" Hiyori said ,holding her sword ,waiting to do the swing and defend demonstration. "Any more questions?"

"Human ? Substitute Soul Reaper….wait! I'm kind of new to this squad, but… Captain Sir, you wouldn't happen to be Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, would you ?" The young squad member asked.

"Yeah, I am…. How many other orange haired Soul Reapers do you know of?" Ichigo asked, stretching. " And as I explained to the other squad members when I first became a captain, because I'm not up to date on a lot of Soul Reaper things, Hiyori here will be doing a lot of stuf like this, so just think of her as a second captain if you want"

"Uh, yes sir" He said, nodding. "And before we begin, may I say it's a honor to work under you , mister hero, sir"

"Sure,… go ahead Hiyori" Ichigo said, nodding to her. " I'll even do the drill with you guys and girls"

Ichigo let Hiyori take charge of training the squad, and while he did some of the drills with them, he mostly did his own solo practice nearby.

"You know Ichigo you should really practice using Kido spells a bit, since it is a requirement of a captain" Hiyori said, walking over to him. " How about we try training a bit, like you did with Soifon?'

"..I guess" Ichigo said, putting his Zanpaktou against a nearby railing and walking over to her. "What do we do first?"

Hiyori took her own Zanpaktou, put it back in it's sheath, and set it down next to Ichigo's, before turning to look at him. "We start at the beginning…."

**x-Meanwhile-x**

Back in the world of the living, the Bounts were gathered up on the same cave they had fled to after the destuction of Kariya's mansion.

"Thank you for regrouping so quickly, my fellow Bounts. We have urgent things to discuss" Kariaya said, looking around at the others. "We are all know immensely stronger thanks to the Bittos and the time to enact are revenge has come. There are however a few loose ends to tie up and a few small obstacles still standing in our way"

"And what might those be?" Yoshi asked, impatiently. "Please tell me it involves killing someone.."

"Actually, it just might, Yoshi…I need someone to either distract or kill the Soul Reaper Kisuke Urahara and his merry band of shop keeping residents" Kariya said with a smile. " While this happens we will go after the Quincy who still lives , a teenage boy named Uryu Ishida. We do need him to enter the Soul Soceity afterall. Yoshi, would you like to go after the Soul Reaper?… perhaps you can take Ryo with you, have some fun and who knows? Maybe you'll actually kill him off… "

"Working with Ryo?….sounds like ass…. But killing a Soul Reaper? That sounds fun…." Yoshi said, licking her lips. "Just the thought of bathing in his blood, get me really…excited"

"Excellent, go.. Have fun" Kariya said, with a smile. "The rest of us have a Quincy to collect"

Ryo and Yoshi made their way out of the cave amnd stopped at the enterence.

"I just wanna make one thing clear before we head out, Ryo" Yoshi said, slanting her eyes. "You get in my way as we attack the Soul Reaper, and I won't hesitate to kill you too. Got it?"

"The same goes for you, Yoshi" Ryo said, before walking off, with Yoshi in tow.

Across town, as Urahara was killing Bittos he couldn't shake the strange feeling that, something or someone would soon be after him. He gripped his Zanpaktou, Benihime, rightly as he cut through several more Bittos and went on his way, hoping that he would be ready for whatever might come for him that night.

He shook his head and flash-stepped forward to rendezvous with Yoruichi back at his shop. After several blocks he came to a deliberate stop, and grinned.

"You've been following me a few blocks now….so just come out already" Urahara said, not turning around.

"You…you were able to sense us?…" said a female voice asked, steeping out of the shadows. "No wonder, considering you were once a captain,…. but I am curious as to how you discovered us"

"Oh, it's actually simple, I created a portable Bount sensor and brought it with me" Urahara said, holding with wrist out, reveal a small watch like object. "Stylish, huh?….. By the way, your partner can also come out to play"

"I suppose I should, right Yoshi?" a man holding a pocket watch said.

"Sure, Ryo, as long as you stay out of my way, come on out…" Yoshi said, grinning as she looked at Urahara. "Tell me Soul Reaper.. Are you ready to die?.."

"Die?… hehe, sorry ,but I have to meet up with a lovely lady friend of mine and can't be late" Urahara said grinning back. " If you two do wanna fight , I'll have to make it quick"

"You sound so confident… I wonder how you'll sound when I cut of you arms and legs, leaving you a bloodly stump on the ground?" Yoshi said, grinning with bloodlust. "How about we find out… Zeige Dich, Neider!"

"Don't forget that you are facing two opponants on this night, Soul Reaper… so I'm afraid your "lady friend" will have be disappointed by you not showing up" Ryo said, holding out his pocket watch. " Zeige Dich, Fried!"

"Well, since both of you have called on your dolls, it would rude of not to wake up my Zanpaktou, the red princess.." Urahara said, pulling out his Shikomizue ( cane with sword blade hidden in it). "Awaken, Benihime"

"Now then, allow me to show you just how fierce the red princess, Benihime can be in battle" Urahara said in a serious tone. "I warn you, if you wish to survive this fight, you'd do well to not underestimate her, it could cost you dearly"

"We'll have to see if your promises can be kept, Soul Reaper" Yoshi said, grinning. " Let's show him that his "red princess" isn't the only dangerous one around here… shall we, Nieder?"

"Yes lets us show them" Her Jian sword said, while the battle fan part of her doll said, " Yes, let's carve them up real good"

"Fine, enough talking then" Ryo said, swinging his whip like doll around. "I came here to kill a Soul Reaper, not chat!"

"Well, then I hope not to dissapoint you" Urahara said, faling back into a defensive stance. " Show me what you can do"

End of Chapter 36...To be continued

Thanks for reading, please enjoy and review. And ( this seems to be a regular thing now) I must appologize for the lateness of thie chapter update.. Please be patient, this show will go on!.. Unless the world blows up or an army of hamsters attack…you know, something bad… see ya soon


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 37

Uryu Ishida was walking home from getting a few supplies for Handy Crafts club at school, and was walking along, not really thinking about anything, when he felt a strange presence near him.

_It doesn't feel like reishi ..and I can barely feel it, like its…like I don't actually know someone is watching me, but my instincts are telling me that someone is_. Uryu thought, as he walked on, carefully watching the areas he did. _Then again if someone was here like a Soul Reaper, or hollow, I would know…unless it's.. the Bounts? No, it was impossible to sense Bounts with one of those mod soul things Urahara created…_

He rounded the corner of the street and saw a old man standing their holding a cane and looking up at the moon.

"Hello there young man,.. Would you do a old man a favor and assist him?" The man asked, looking over in his direction with squinting eyes. "I'm not from the area and need to get to a large nearby park to meet up with my grandson"

"Um...I suppose I could… do you mean the Yumisawa Park?" Uryu asked, somewhat suspicious of the old man. " Why are you out here ..on your own?"

"Well I'm not the kind of man who wants to be treated like he's helpless, despite my age" The old man said, with a slight smile on his wrinkled face. " Although in retrospect, I probably should have brought a map with me.."

"Right, it's not far from here… I can take you" Uryu said, still keeping an eye on the strange old man. "By the way, what is your name, if I may ask?"

"Where are my manners.. You may call me Sawatari " The man said as the walked along the empty streets towards the park. " I'm really looking forward to seeing my grandson again"

"Of course.. We'll be there any minute now anyway" Uryu said, looking forward but glancing at the man every once and a while, while thinking, _Maybe I'm being paranoid for nothing… if he was dangerous, he wouldn't be walking with me… _

Several minutes later they reached the park, and it was empty, no one there but them.

"Well I do need to get home now that you're here...however, if you wish me to wait till your grandson arrive, I suppose I cold delay my return home for a bit" Uryu said, looking over at the man.

"There's no reason to wait with me now" The man said, looking over at Uryu as he turned away. "However, you won't be leaving on your own, nor will it be home that your going to, I'm afraid, Mr. Quincy"

Out of the shadows in front of him and to both of his sides, appeared several people, Bounts to be exact.

"Hello again, young Quincy" Kariya said, hands in his pockets as he casually strolled out into the moon light. "Lovely night isn't it?"

"Kariya!…and the other Bounts…or rather most of the other Bounts.., what are you doing here?" Uryu asked, holding on to his Quincy cross and getting ready to release his bow. "For that matter, what do you want?"

"No need to be so defensive, Uryu Ishida, we're here…. to talk to you" Kariya said, smiling.

"Talk about what, exactly?" Uryu, said gripping his cross tightly.

Ugaki stepped forward, adjusting his glasses. "It's simple actually… we need you do us a little favor.. The Soul Society awaits us ,and you're the key"

"No deal, the Bounts are as much my enemy as Soul Reapers are" Uryu said, eyeing them carefully. "I will not do you any favors, or help you into the soul society, Kariya"

"I see…most unfortunate that won't help us willingly …." Kariya said closing his eyes, before smirking. " Koga, perhaps you can…encourage him… to change his mind"

"As you wish, Kariya" Koga said, stepping forward and pulling out a metal ball. "Zeige Dich, Dalk!"

The metal ball glowed before growing in size and multiplied, connecting themselves together and as they formed a tall semi-humanoid shape of a woman with a white face.

"Oooh! ..what do we have here?…" Dalk asked, licking her lips. "A fine young man who will show this woman a good time?.. I hope so"

"Fine, then by the pride of the Quincy, I will show you a good time" Uryu said, holding out his tiny cross on a chain, that shot bluish energy out from two sides and let it form a large, energy bow.

Uryu shot off several arrows at the doll, only to have it dodge them and fire off pieces off herself at the Quincy in the spot he had jumped to. Uryu rolled out of the way, missing all but a few that, struck him in his shoulder. He flinched from the pain, but tried to ignore it, as he gathered a large amount of reishi from the air and fire a large arrow back at her.

"Damn , that kind of smarted…how dare you strike a lady!" Dalk yelled, turning her arms in tube shaped objects and firing tiny balls of metal at Uryu like a machine gun. "Come on! Where's that confidence of yours? I like my men strong!"

Uryu ran to the left and jumped behind a low brick wall that made up part of the park's border. He heard as much as felt the barrage of makeshift bullets smash into the wall, and tearing it to pieces as they more or less drilled through the bricks.

"Damn! This wall will not hold forever...I need to catch her off guard" Uryu said ,using his analytical mind to try and think of a quick strategy. " She uses force …so speed might be the best option for the moment"

Though not as skilled as he should be, he concentrated and gathered spiritual particles under his feet before disappearing from view just before a hole was torn through the wall by the bullets flying at it. He reappeared behind Dalk and fired off a large arrow, he had made during the moment he disappeared. The large energy arrow hit the doll square in her back, just as she noticed him behind her and sent her flying into the wall she had been decimating with the bullet sized balls of metal.

Dalk smashed face first into the wall, destroying what was left of the area she had been shooting at. Uryu allowed himself a momentarily grin, before his normal calm expression return, there was no point it getting overconfident. He knew first hand how dangerous the Bounts were and didn't intend on letting his guard down.

"You are not treating this lady… VERY NICE!" Dalk screamed, bursting from the pile of bricks, sending them flying. From her torso down, the steel balls that made up her body, changed her shape from human like-lower half, to a spider-like form. Her arms also became as pointed as her now, several pairs of legs did, and she grinned wildly at Uryu.

Uryu eyes widened, and he disappeared from sight once again, as Dalk shot a web made of metal at him. He raced across the park using Hirenkyaku, dodging more metal webs as he did. He spotted a tall building that was in the middle of being built, and raced toward it. He only had one option...even though he wasn't looking forward to using it.

_I've only trained with it a little while, and haven't used it combat yet, but...but at this point , what choice do I have?… _Uryu thought as he pulled at the skin of his right hand and tore away the fake, specially created, skin that had been on it. He made a mental note to thank Urahara for giving him the fake skin material later as he stood up and waited for the doll to find him. He looked down at his Senrei glove, with a bit of anxiety at using it in a combat situation for the first time.

"I'VE FOUND YOU MY LOVE!" Dalk screamed, as she smashed through a nearby wall. "Why ever did you run off, my handsome young man?"

"It might have something to do with you being a psychotic metal monster .." Uryu sounding calm on the outside, despite nervous on the inside. "By the pride of the Quincy, I will destroy you, and your owner"

"Mmmm… sounds like you know how to make up for striking me…," Dalk said, grinning. "Too bad it's not enough!"

Meanwhile across town,….

Urahara lowered his blood mist shield he had just used to block Yoshi's attack of the needle like pieces of metal she fired off from her fan, Nieder.

"Ha!, that probably would have hurt quite a bit, if not for my Blood Mist shield, huh?" Urahara asked, grinning. "But you know, I haven't really had the opportunity to fight a lot for the past hundred years or so, so thanks for this, it's been fun so far!"

"You won't be having fun for much longer, Soul Reaper" Ryo said, using Frida as a whip to strike everything around them and create countless snakes. "Go and have a good time, little ones"

Numerous snakes, of different sizes lunged at Urahara, who used flash-step to avoid them and his Zanpaktou to slice through them. A large snake one from behind him caught him off guard however after he moved out of the way of Yoshi's fan, which she threw at high speeds. The large snake sank it's fangs into his arm, causing great pain to Urahara.

He tried shaking if off but it held on as another smaller snake bit into his leg. Ignoring the pain, he sliced thought both, and knelt on the ground, bleeding a bit from his shoulder and leg.

"Not bad,…but not great either." Urahara said, standing back up, with blood soaking into the sleeve of his jacket . "Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro"

The six beams of light the kido spell created, slammed into Ryo holding hi in place, while Urahara pulled back his sword.

"Scream, Benihime!" Urahara yelled sending a wave of red energy from his sword as he swung it outward at Ryo.

The wave of energy slammed into Ryo making yell out in pain, and cough up a little blood as well. Frida hissed at Urahara, as a inured but not deterred, Ryo broke free from the Kido spell.

"Stupid Soul Reaper …you will die!" Ryo said, growling and wipe blood from his mouth. "Frida, full form attack!"

"With pleasure!" Frida hissed, before detaching from Ryo's arm and growing into a giant red eyed snake. "Now I will devour you, ssssstupid SSSooul Reaper!"

"..Huh…well this sucks.." Urahara said, flash-stepping out of the way as the giant snake, Frida, smashed into the roof where he was just standing. " I feel like roasted snake for dinner, I think"

Urahara wordlessly fired out Hado 31 several times at the doll, hitting it in the side and burning it. He dodged down and moved back, to avoid the sword blade of Yoshi's doll as she swung at him. His hat was cut in half diagonally, and the pieces floated to the ground, as she jumped at him again, swinging her sword, and meeting his blade in return.

"You may have killed my hat, but make no mistake,…your not worth my time right now, young one" Urahara said, grabbing her sword with his bare hand. "Now be gone.. Bakudo 63, Sajo Sabaku"

Yellow glowing chains wrapped around Yoshi, holding her sword and chain connected fan weapon against her body. Ignoring her wide eyes, Urahara brought his foot up, kicked her off the roof and sent her flying into side of a close by building, that she smashed inside of.

Urahara looked up, but in time as Frida smashed her giant tail into him send him through several nearby buildings. The doll shot towards the roof where Urahara had landed on, mouth wide open.

"I'm going to devour you, whole!" She hissed loudly, slamming into his slightly wobbling form.

He managed to keep most of his body out of her way, but he felt her bite into his left arm, with her large fangs. He brought Benihime down at her and she let go of him, getting a large gash across her face as she moved out of the way. Urahara looked down at his arm and saw it turning black at the hand, spreading slowly upward.

"Ugh…ow.. " Urahara commented holding his arm. "What…what the hell, it's turning black! What the hell did you do?"

"My ssspecial poison, foolish SSSoul Reaper.." Frida hissed, grinning( as best a snake can that is). "Feels good ,doesn't it?"

"So sad… Mr. Soul Reaper.. In a matter of minutes it will spread up your arm's nerves, destroying them ,and before long, reach the rest of your body as well" Ryo said, walking up onto the roof , by using Frida's tail. "What a sad way to die for someone so powerful"

"Not necessarily.. You told me how it works, so the solution, while painful, is clear." Urahara said, not pausing for even a moment as he sliced across his left shoulder. "uhg,.."

"What…?.. What did you do?" Ryo asked eyes wide in confusion.

"I cut…uhg.. My nerves that go from my arm to the rest of by body…Uhg… so the rest of me won't effected at all" Urahara said, with a grin, despite the pain. "Guess my death was forecasted a bit prematurely, wasn't it?…now then…. how about a little game of flash-step tag?.. Your it!"

He vanished from sight, appearing a few blocks way.

"Come on, keep up if wanna catch me!" Urahara yelled loudly , holding onto his damaged arm as he appeared on a roof several buildings over, before disappearing again.

"We have to follow him!" Ryo said angerliy ,standing on Frida's head. "After him, Frida!"

Urahara knew of a way to kill the regenerating doll, but it wasn't going to be easy to set up, nor without sacrifice. He finally stopped moving after landing in a area, of abandoned, and condemned buildings, the perfect place to execute his plan with out hurting anyone, though it might cause trouble in the Soul Society later. He set up a large barrier, that while not super strong would hold off the doll long enough fro him to activate his high level Kido spell.

Several minutes later the giant snake, now free of wounds, tore through several of the empty buildings, and spotted Urahara chanting something, inside a translucent energy barrier. She slammed in to the barrier head first after Ryo jumped off, far enough to watch but not too close to the destruction that Frida was bring.

"I hope my personal protection barrier is strong enough to keep my unaffected by this.." He said, as the outside barrier smashed apart from Frida slamming into it continuously. "Alright, time to rid this world of a Bount….. _Yoruichi.. I hope I get to see you again my old friend .. _Hado, number 96... ITTO KASO!"

Heavy, red colored spiritual energy swirled around Urahara, before shooting into the air in a shape of a giant blade. Frida notice it, but was already mid strike at Urahara, and going to fast to stop and was disintegrated upon contact. Only part of her lower half remained, and it slammed down on the nearby empty buildings, smashing them to pieces, before disappearing from sight. The energy tore a large path of destruction around it, taking several more buildings with it before it faded out.

Ryo saw what had happened , and yelled in frustration and pain as he turned to sand and died, leaving only a pile of sand filled clothes on the roof he once stood on. Dust, dirt and smoke had been created by the high level kido, and now dissipated, leaving a crouching, and bleeding individual on the ground nearby. The man was covered in bleeding cuts, bruises, and gashes, as he performed a healing spell on his left shoulder.

"Well that…could have gone better… or worse.." Urahara said, looking over at his left. " I can't believe this happened…"

Urahara's left arm, up to his shoulder ,was gone, leaving a bleeding wound where it once was. He finish sealing up the wound, so the bleeding would stop, and laid down, pulling out a cell phone.

"Hello? Tessai?…" Urahara said, weakly into the phone. "I'm a bit injured and I think I'm going to need at hand to get home…litterally…"

He hung up after Tessai telling him he would pick him up asap, And laid there grinning, despite the wounds he had.

"Yoruichi is going to kill me ,when she finds out what I did, isn't she Benihime?" He asked, talking to his resealed sword. "…Yeah, your right, she's not going to kill me, she's going to make me beg for death...Hahaha… In the meantime. I wonder if Spirit Hunter, with Don Kanonji is on tonight?…"

Back with Uryu, he was moving at high speeds, while using his Senrei glove's bow to blast powerful arrows at the doll Dalk, as she attacked him. He speed out of the way, only to be sent flying away by one of her pointy arms, which she smashed into him. Uryu rolled across the ground a few times before using Hirenkyaku to barely avoid Dalk piercing the ground where he was just laying at.

He fired several more arrows at her that blew off her arms, causing her to scream before growing new metal arms, by using nearby construction equipment.

"You are going to burn…" Dalk said, angerliy. "Know one… DOES THIS TO ME!"

She raced at him as she fired a metal web, catching him in his leg. She came down pircing her sharp, pointy feet through Uryu's right leg, lower side, and left shoulder, pining him to the ground. He cried in pain,while Dalk grinned down at him, licking her lips, before kissing him on his cheek.

"There.. You showed me such a good time tonight,.. I thought a reward was in order, before I killed you.. Mister Quincy.." Dalk said, shaping one of her arms into a large sword and pointing it at him. "Where should I stab you to finish you off?… you head?… your chest… maybe I'll cut off all your limbs and watch you bleed to death?… the choices the choices… I just can't decide.."

"Hado 8, Kooyri Yari" a female voice called out, and a spear of ice shot out, stabbing into Dalk's arm and coating it with ice.

"Hey bitch!" Kukaku Shiba said, grinning as she walked into view. " I was in the neighborhood, and felt clashes of spiritual pressure nearby. Thought I'd drop by and see if their was a good fight going on, guess I was right"

"Now then… Bakudo 4, Hainawa" She said walking calmly forward as she held out her left arm. "And maybe a little of Shiba style as kicking as well"

She pulled out her sword ,and and channeled a ice kido into it, coating it with ice.

"Explosionsare really more my thing, but I'll make an exception, since I know metal isn't good when frozen" She said, walking up and slicing though Dalk's legs, cutting them off. "Now, this is going to hurt Uryu, but hey, at least we can go"

"What ..about the other Bounts?" Uryu asked grtting his teeth from the pain.

"I put up a two block long barrier, that will hold out long enough for me to get you back to Urahara's shop" She said, taking a hold of the three legs while Dalk was smashing the ice off and trying to break free of the binding spell. "Ready? One of five I'll pull out the two sharp legs that didn't come out when she fell over.. 1...2.… 3... Pull!"

"Ahhh! You said , on five!" Uryu yelled out. "That was three!"

"Duh!.. you expected five and would tense up on five, so did it when you didn't expect it" She said, pulling the bandages around her hair off, and wrapping up his most serious wound , his side. She then scooped him up despite protests, and flash-stepped off. But not before stopping out side and through down a few smoke bombs that exploded in sequence, giving Kukaku and Uryu plenty of time to escape.

"Hmm… the young Quincy is gone…what a shame.." Kariya said, standing calmly. " Lets go, Koga, Ugaki, Sawatari… we still have one more option open to us.."

"We do?" Koga asked as a angry Dalk returned to him. "How so?"

"No one said he was the last of the Quincys… and all it will take to get the other one's cooperation.." Kariya said, holding up Uryu's tiny Quincy cross. ".. Is the right motivation"

Some time later Kukaku arrived at Urahara's shop and dropped her jaw at seeing a one armed Urahara.

"What the fuck happened!" She asked wide-eyed. "Did you try to peak on Yoruichi in the shower?...again?"

"I couldn't be so lucky, Kukaku.. I had a bit of a run in with the Bounts.." Urahara said, grinning like an idiot.

"…And this moron decided it was a smart idea to use Itto Kaso" Yoruichi said, bitterly as she walked into the room. "Maybe you could have resorted t something a bit more...limb saving?"

"Well in my defense , at the time it seemed like a good way to stop the giant snake, that kept regenerating.." He said running his remaining hand through his hair. "Guess it wasn't, huh?"

"You had better hope that all that time Orihime has spent developing her powers with Hachi, the Visored, has paid off, Kisuke" Yoruichi said, sitting down at the table with Urahara. " Tessai can you help Uryu until Orihime gets here in a few minutes?"

"Of course, miss Yoruichi" Tessai said, bowing. "Bring him this way, if you would, Miss Shiba"

Several minute later Orihime arrived and made a big fuss over Urahara's arm, before calming down and using Soten Kisshun to help Urahara.

"Incredible… she's...regrowing his arm from northing, by using some sort of.. phenomena rejection of sorts.." Yoruichi said, watching Urahara's arm reappear from nothing.

"Whatever it is Orihime does, it definitely goes beyond simple healing" Kukaku said, rejoining Yoruichi in the main room. "Tessai said the quincy kid, Uryu, should be fine. Although Orihime might wanna take a look to just be safe"

"Any ideas why the Bounts were after him?" Kukaku asked ,sitting down and scratching her butt. "Seemed like they really wanted him for something.. Better ask the kid what they wanted.."

"Yes… in any case I better inform the Soul Society about this…" Yoruichi started to say before Tessai interrupted her.

"Young Ishida said to tell you that the Bounts plan to go to the Soul Society and that for some reason, they thought he was the key to that" Tessai said, setting down some tea for them. "Oh boss, your arm is back! Truly amazing work miss Inoue.. Truly amazing"

"Um well, it was nothing really.. Hachi helped me develop my powers quite a bit, after Mr. Urahara introduced him to me" Orihime said,blushing. "….I think I should check over Uryu now, though, excuse me, miss Yoruichi, miss Kukaku, Mr. Tessai and Mr. Urahara"

"Ok then,…. Guess I'll return prepare to return to the Soul Society and inform the head Captain about the possibility of the Bounts trying to come to the Soul Soceity" Yoruichi said, standing up and bringing her tea with her. "I'm using the secret Shihoin gate to get back though, it's faster… you coming or staying here?"

"…I haven't seeen my idiot brother Ganju or my other brother Ichigo in a while, I better go with you" Kukau said, downing the hot tea, and droppnig the cup on the table before following her out of the room. "Think we should bring Orihime with us? Any injuries will be snap to heal with her abilities"

"She should probably stay here where she's safe…then again.." Yoruichi said ,thinking about her restoring Urahara's arm. "..maybe she should come with us afterall. You get Orihime and I'll ready our gate"

"Meet you in the basement, Yoruichi" Kukaku said , watching Yoruichi walk out of sight.

It wasn't long before Kukaku, Orihime and Yorichi entered the private Senkiamon of the Shihoin clan and traveled to the Soul Society.

"Wow it's so pretty here , Miss Yoruichi!" Orihime said, after they exited the gate near a large mansion. "And so big! Is this really your house?"

"Well technically it's my clan's house, but close enough" Yoruich said, smiling. " You know, I received word that they want me to take over as clan head once again, but I haven't giving a response yet…"

"With Urahara doing such overpowered , and stupid things like a level 96 kido spell, can you really afford to?" Kukaku asked grinning. "Anyways, while you go and tell the head captain about the Bounts thing, I'm going to go pay my favorite little brother a visit..right after I check up on Ganju , that is"

"Right, I'll take Orihime with me, I've had a bit of a idea in which she can use her powers to benefit the Soul Society,.." Yoruichi said ,looking over the girl in question. " You interested, Orihime?"

"Oh, um sure ,if we can visit Ichigo afterwards" Orihime replied smiling.

"That was the plan…, in fact ,how about everyone gathers up to catch up and disscuss the situation in say… 3 hours?" Yoruichi asked, looking between Orihime and Kukaku, who both nodded. " Alright then, grab on and we'll get to the squad 1 barracks ,Orihime… We'll see you later Kukaku"

Quite some distance away,…

"Come on Ichigo, you jackass!" Hiyori said, whining. "Just except that it's your fault our barracks is missing several walls!"

"I may have been the one to unleash that kido spell, but you're the one who kept telling me to put more power in it!" Ichigo yelled back. "Therefore,… it's coming out of your paycheck, snaggletooth!"

"…How about we take it out of the squad's monthly budget normally used for replacement uniforms, and other crap..it's not like we spend a lot of it" Hiyori said, laying on their bed with her head upside down looking over at Ichigo.

"…sure, whatever works…. ,as long as I don't have to pay" Ichigo said, standing up. "I'm going to go and put this stupid paperwork away. I'll be back shortly"

He leaned down and kissed Hiyori on upside-down lips before walking off with the stack of papers.

A voice called out over the loud speakers, making Ichigo stop in his tracks, only a few feet from his office. "Attention all Captains, an emergency meeting has been called at the Squad 1 barracks, all captains and Lieutenants are required to report, immediately!"

"Huh..wonder what's going on?…" Ichigo said walking back to the office and finding Hiyori already there waiting for him. "You ready to go?"

She nodded and after he dropped the stack of papers to the side, Hiyori jumped onto his back, before Ichigo sped off to the meeting, hoping it wasn't anything major..and having a bad feeling it was.

End of Chapter 37 to be continued…

Please read, review and enjoy,. Sorry bout the wait, but hey, it was a shorter wait then last time, I'm trying folks.. See you soon with another chapter


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 38

"About time you showed up, Ichigo" Kyoraku said, with a smile. " And Hiyori, it's good to see your still not in a regular Shihakusho… the tracksuit really brings out your womanly charm and- oww!"

"Please excuse my perverted Captain, Lieutenant Sarugaki" Lieutenant Nanao said, after smacking her captain in the head with a thick folder. "Welcome to the meeting, you two"

"Yeah, we were dealing the never ending paper work crap" Hiyori said, frowning. "So what's up, old man?"

"What is up, is we have detected a possible Senkaimon opening in the Rukon district" Yamamoto said, glancing in Ichigo and Hiyori's direction as they got into the line up of other Captain's and Lieutenants. "We need to face the possibility that these Bount's have invaded the Soul Society and if this is indeed the case, we need to strike against them, quickly and without mercy"

"I'm certainly not the type of person to kill someone if there's another way, but I'll still make sure their taking down somehow" Ichigo said, folding his arms. "So what's the specifics?"

"Me and my lieutenant have discussed the situation after hearing the news of the gate being opened and come to a decision on that" Yamamoto said, clearing his throat. "Since you and your Lieutenant have the most experience in fighting against this enemy, you, Captain Kurosaki, will lead the force of your squad members to protect the Seireitei at the gates. Captain's Zaraki, Soifon and Komamura will join you with a number of Soul Reapers from their squads as well"

"Who's going to the front lines? Why can't I ?" Ichigo asked confused. "Me and Hiyori can defeat their leader before he reaches the gates of the Seireitei"

"That is true, but we need to find out what they are after, if it's revenge or something else" Ukitake said, looking down the line at Ichigo. "We suspect it's more then simple revenge and want to discover what it is"

"Still , that seems like a really stupid idea…. Any idea's what else they might be after, besides revenge, old man?" Ichigo asked ,not happy about the situation.

"I have not mentioned this before, but according to our research, powerful crests called Jokaisho may be scattered somewhere within the Seireitei. These were created during the original experiments that created the Bounts" Kurotsuchi said, after getting a nod from the Head Captain to speak about it. "We don't know what they do, only that they are what the Bounts may be after, and that we need to keep their filthy hands off of them"

"Head Captain, given this new information , I believe it may be for the best that Ichigo's group head to confront the Bounts before they reach the inside of the Seireitei" Soifon said, looking over at him. " We need to stop the enemy before it's gets here"

"Hmmm…. Perhaps…" Yamamoto said, with a hand on his chin. "…Very well, the group led by Captain Kurosaki may do that, ..it will be easier to give you official permission to do so, rather then let you go off on your own, without it"

"Sounds about right" Hiyori said with a grin, jumping onto Ichigo's back. "Let's kick some Bount ass!"

"Then you, and your captain should go gather your squad members, while Captain's Soifon, Zaraki, and Komamura do the same and tell them to stand by inside the Seireitei" Yamamoto said, glancing in said captain's directions. "Meet up at the gates before heading out to confront the enemy, while the rest of us Captains and Lieutenants will be tasked with finding and sealing away the crests"

With just a nod, Ichigo dashed out of the room carrying Hiyori on his back, in a piggyback, with a grinning Zaraki doing the same behind him, carrying Yachiru on his shoulder. Soifon apologized to the head captain on their behalf before getting official permission to leave and following them out the door while leaving her idiot Lieutenant chasing after her.

After going to their individual squad's to relay orders, the three captains met up and met at the west Rukon district's Hakudo gate, where Jidanbo was guarding on the outside. They gave a nod to one another before walking out of the gate to go and face the Bounts. Ichigo and Hiyori gave the towering Jidanbo a friendly greeting as they walked out, with Soifon giving just a polite nod, and Zaraki telling him he's like to fight him when he had some free time.

"Hey Soifon , where did you leave your useless Lieutenant at?" Ichigo asked, as they dashed across the house's roofs.

"That fat-ass? I left him at the squad 2 barracks" Soifon replied, as they jumped across a large gap to another roof. "Knowing him, he's probably manage to injure us instead of the enemy"

"Probably…. He doesn't really seem qualified to your lieutenant" Ichigo said, in agreement. "How'd he manage it?"

"Simple, it's called financial and political power" Soifon said with disgust. "He just barely has the power level of Lieutenant, his combat abilities are beyond pathetic and he only just managed to release his Zanpaktou when he first came to my squad. If it wasn't for his status as a noble, he's probably be about a 5th or 6th seat on my squad, with a heavy combat practice regiment"

"Well that sucks…. People who don't deserve to be Lieutenant get it, and those who do , don't" Ichigo said, frowning. "I know for a fact that Rukia deserves to be a lieutenant, but her stupid brother Byakuya won't let her…. Speaking of Rukia, I wonder if she wants in on this mission of ours?"

"It doesn't matter, we don't have permission to ask her" Soifon said as he came to a stop and she and Zaraki followed suit. "…But your going to ask her anyways.. Aren't you?"

"Pretty much" Ichigo said, grinning. "Hiyori can you send a butterfly thingy to Rukia?"

Hiyori let go of him and dropped to the ground before calling a hell butterfly, relaying the message and sending it off. They were about to move again, when they felt a strange spiritual pressure from nearby. Looking upwards, they saw a Senkaimon open in the sky and moments later, several figure fell out.

One of them, who turned to be Tatsuki fell on Ichigo and knocked him down onto the roof. Chad dropped a moment later in a crouch nearby, before standing up and catching a laughing Orihime with one hand, and a slightly embarrassed Uryu with the other.

"Wow Ichigo, that's how Hiyori fell on you when we first come to the Soul Society!" Orihime said, with a smile after Chad set her down. " What a strange coincidence, huh?"

"Yeah...strange.. Could you get off of me now, Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked , annoyed.

"Oh, yeah, sorry" Tatsuki said, blushing a little. "So… long time no see, Ichigo"

"Yeah, but what are you three doing here?" Ichigo asked ,before two more people fell out of the gate in the sky.

"I think you mean, what are you _five _doing here, don't you, little brother?" Kukaku said, after landing in a crouch. "Good to see you again, by the way. You don't write, or call… it's enough to make a big sister think you don't like her or something"

"Stop being so embarrassing, Kukaku, sheesh…" Ichigo exclaimed, crossing his arms. "So are you here because of the Bounts?"

"It's a big sister's prerogative and right to embarrass her siblings, adopted or not" Kukaku replied , grinning at him. "As for us being here…. Yoruichi?"

" We are indeed here because of the Bounts, Ichigo" A grinning Yoruichi replied, landing next to Kukaku. "By the way, care to try that landing again? I'm sure you'd like it more it I landed on you"

"Stop flirting with my boyfriend, you stupid perverted cat!" A growling Hiyori said, from beside Ichigo. "Go flirt with someone else!"

"Aww, so protective… but he reacts so wonderfully to it" Yoruichi said, grinning for a moment. before getting serious "Now then, that aside, we came to give assistance against the Bounts. No doubt , your going to need it, especially since not even Kisuke could handle a Bount without resorting to a powerful, dangerous and incredibly stupid to use, Kido spell to defeat one earlier"

"Mister Hat and Clogs was injured? Is he alright?" Ichigo asked, while Zaraki stood there impatiently

"From the Bount related injuries? Thanks to Orihime, yes he is" Yoruichi replied, folding her arms under her chest. "From my injuries I inflicted on him for nearly killing himself with a forbidden Kido spell? Not so much"

"What did you do to him?" Hiyori asked out of curiosity.

"Not much… just broke his newly re-grown arm, gave him a black eye, and several other large bruises.. Just minor stuff really" She replied, casually. "Now then, lets get going ,.. Lirin? Show us the way, would you?"

"Right" The small bird like Mod Soul Lirin said, jumping onto Ichigo's shoulder. "Hmmm… kind of faint, but I think I sense Bount energy far north from here"

"Then lets move!" Ichigo said, dashing off with the others in tow, behind him.

They soon came upon a group of injured souls and stopped to see what had happened. The residents were reluctant to speak to the Soul Reapers, until they recognized Ichigo and Hiyori, who they knew were bad like most Soul Reapers were and told them about the strange Ryoka that appeared a few minute before they arrived.

"..and then, after inuring several residents who told them to leave, they walked off in that direction towards the gambling hall known as Kusjishi" A middle aged female resident told them before the group headed off to that area.

-in Hueco Mundo…

"Gin.. I'm disappointed in you…." Aizen said, sitting at the head of a long, empty conference table. "You were suppose to eliminate the Bount's leader, and yet you allowed him and the others to enter the Soul Society… would you care to explain your reasons for this?"

"I must give my sincerest apologies , Lord Aizen, but even we have trouble in tracking Bount Spiritual energy" Ichimaru stated, his face still plastered with his ever pleasant grin. "If you'd like I can go to the Soul Society and take care of them"

"No, doing that would only put you, and in turn, my plans, in danger" Aizen said standing up and walking out to his balcony, with Ichimaru following. "I want you to instead, send a message that is disguised as one that came from Urahara, saying they found a weakness after studying some residual reishi, and with a bit of assistance from the research department, found a device capable of stopping Kariya's plans in it's tracks"

"Oh, so you want me to take the experimental reishi sealer… the one we stole from Urahara a long time ago ,and have completed, right?" Ichimaru asked, his grin even wider. "How do I get it to the Soul Society? Ichigo Kurosaki and several of his friends might be there, and have never been hypnotized by Kyoka Suigetsu. How should I deliver the item and message?"

"Open a Senkaimon, that mimics Urahara's, and send it through with a hypnotized hell butterfly that will deliver the message with Urahara's voice" Aizen said, looking out over the deserts of Hueco Mundo. "Do not fail this time, Gin. I have a large amount of patience, especially for one as loyal as you, but even I run out eventually. In other words, tread carfully, my friend, least you test me to far. Now go, do as I have asked"

Ichimaru bowed , before flash stepping out of sight, and leaving Aizen alone on the balcony.

Back in the Soul Society, the group got the device and the message, that Rukia read, and informed the others about what it said.

"So basically it can seal away spiritual pressure, but it's only usable once, and only temporary?" Ichigo commented, folding his arms. "At least Urahara made something usefull for a change…"

"As long as it doesn't blow up or something…" Hiyori said, sighing. "Unless he didn't tell us that..does it blow up after being used or anything, Yoruichi?"

"I don't know.. I didn't even know he made this device" Yoruichi replied. "The message said it was a secret,..I guess it was too secret to even tell me"

"It doesn't matter Lady Yoruichi, we willl be to the gambling hall in question in a mtter of minutes, we should go before they do whatever it is they plan on doing" Soifon said, speaking determinedly, yet polite.

"You heard her, lets get back to our mission of stopping the Bounts" Ichigo said, and they quickly returned to heading towards the gambling hall.

They soon arrived at the gambling hall, Kusjishi and spotted one of the Bounts, Koga sanding there outside, with his arms folded. He glanced over and saw the, with eyes that momentarily widened.

"What are they doing here?.." He said narrowing his eyes. "Kariya, we have…guests"

"Oh really? And who might that be…" Kariya asked untill he stepped outside and saw who it was. "you….I truly did not expect to see you again, Ichigo Kurosaki… but at least you will be here to witness my triumph"

"The only thing I'm going to witness is you being beaten…" Ichigo said, pulling Zangetsu off his back. "Which will be happennig courtesy of me!"

"My, how you boast…it's to bad you can't back up your taunts" Kariya said, grinning. "Koga, while I deal with my young frined here, why don't you and the other keep his friends busy"

"Of course, master Kariya" Koga said, darting away from the area with the other Bounts.

"Hiyori, you and Rukia, are wirth me, the rest of you should go after the other Bounts" Ichigo said, gripping his sword tightly.

"Sure, but I call dibs on the guy with the Mohawk , he looks fairly strong" Zaraki said, grinning. "Just make sure to stay alive, Ichigo. If Yachiru ever lets us get away with it, I still wanna have a match with you"

"Well have to wait and see about that, Kenpachi" Ichigo said with a small girn before getting serious again. "Hiyori, Rukia, lets kick this guys ass!"

The others began following the Bounts who darted from the area, while Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori faced off with Kariya, though Tatsuki was reluctant and wanted to stay there.

"You know, we should ask this story's author to kill off the character of the Bount Leader for us!" Hiyori exclaimed, making all others, including Kariya, sweat drop.

"Um, you know we really can't be breaking the foruth wall like that,Hiyori.." Ichigo said, cringing. "And while were at it,.. Hey, Naruto, get your Ramen eating ass out of our story!"

"Hehehe.. Sorry thought there was ramen here, I'm going though, so relax" Naruto said, hopping back over to his own manga universe.

"If your done screwing around, the director says we need to get our fight started" Rukia said, folding her arms.

"Fine,..Kariya?… any chance your surrender with out a fight?" Ichigo asked, starring at the man.

"Surrender?…where would the fun be in that?" Kariya asked, grining. " The great winds come before me, the great powers come into me. Windestanz !"

Kariy sent several tornados of wind at Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori, who scattered out of the way. He sent twister after twister at them, not letting them stop to counter attack. Eventually though, Hiyori managed to send out a wave of wind from her Zanpaktou, which dissipated his tornado and let Ichigo fire a Getsuga Tenshou at him.

The attack injured his arm, but he quickly gathered the reishi from the air and healed his wound, while smirking at his opponants.

"He can use reishi to heal him self like Soul Reapers, but a lot faster then us" Rukia commented, as she released her Zanpaktou. "Dance! Sode no Shirayuki !"

She fired off the first attack, Some no mai, Tsukishiro and slashed out the blade of her sword at Kariya, drawing a circle as she does and creats a pillar of ice around him, trapping him there.

"You said he was tough Ichigo, clearly your not as good as you think if if only took me one attack to defeat him.." Rukai said smirking.

Behind her the ice pillar began to shake and Rukia barely had time to move out of the way, as the ice shattered, freeing a piss off looking Kariya. He was clearly injured but once again, pulled some reishi from the ar, in this case what was the roof of nearby building, and healed his injuries right before their eyes.

"Thought you said it was easy, you smart assed little midget" Ichigo yelled at her, holding his blade in front of him.

"I'll get his ass!" Hiyori yelled, swinging her sword in Kariya's direction and releasing several Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu wind attacks at Kariya. "Take this asshole!"

Kariya received several gashes on his shoulders and arms, and growled at her. " You are a very irritating little girl… I think I'll kill you first and save Ichigo for last"

Winds began to whip around him, making it difficult for Ichigo and the others to hold their ground. Kariya grinned as Hiyori and Rukia's feet began to slide on the ground, making them have to stab their Zanpaktous into the ground to stay put. Ichigo used his flash step to move to behind Kariya and shot a Getsuga Tenshou at him.

Kariya was hit in his back and sent him forward, though the winds didn't die down. Ichigo brought Zangetsu down at him, but he caught the blade with his bare hand holding him back.

"Whats wrong Ichigo?..not strong enough to beat me yet?" Kariya ask grinning. "Cause it lloks to me as if your just as weak as before"

"Look again, Kariya" Ichigo said grinning back. "Looks like that hand isn't hold me back as much as you thought"

Kariya glanced down at his hand and saw blood leaking down his wrist, from where the blade was on his hand. He cringed and sent a gust of wind at Ichigo , pushing him and his sword back way from him.

Ichigo deflected a lot of it with his wide Zanpaktou, though was still pushed back

"This is getting us know where, you know hell just heal himself again" Hiyori complained as she and Rukia flash stepped beside Ichigo.

"Then we need to attack together, instead of one ata time" Rukai said, calmly. ""Ichigo, Rukia use your Bankai's and attack in succession, with stopping"

"Then what are you going to be doing, midget?" Ichigo asked quickly as Kariya healed himself with more Reishi.

"I'm going to use something I've been working on, but I need a few minutes" Rukia said, holding her Zanpaktou steadily. " Can you do that? What I have in mind might slow him down enough for you to stop him, permanetly"

They both nodded, and speed toward Kariya, each swinging their Zanpaktou, one after the other , in rapid succession. He countered them as quickly as he could but every time he blocked Ichigo's sword, Hiyori's was right there, and vice versa.

Rukia moved tp the side, to concentrate on using a move that her Zanpaktou, Sode No Shirayuki had recently taught her. She was nervious because she hadn't used it in a real combat situation yet, not that she had time to worry about that at the moment.

"Stand still, you stupid insects!" Kariya yelled, as he continued to deal with alternating attacks from Ichigo and Hiyori. "I grow tired with you…."

Kariya called upon a pada sword with no blade, though it did have visble wind blowing out of where a blade would be. He held it up and it glowed, as yellow electricity formed where the wind was.

"I like to call this little weapon, my lightning blade " Kariya said smiling as a full blade like shape formed with strands of electricity dancing around. "Lets see if you like my sting, Ichigo and Hiyori"

Ichigo swung his sword at Kariya who blocked with the lightning blade, while grinning jumped back and held his sword out in front of him.

"Bankai!"

At even faster speeds, Ichigo charged at Kariya, swing Tensa Zangetsu rapidly. Ichigo pushed back Kariya, at a speed and foce that caught him off guard.

"Hey, I want in on that! Bankai!" Hiyori yelled, with her Zanpaktou transforming into it's twin kusarigamas state. "Ichigo watch out!"

Hiyori shot out her kusarigamas into the ground and the shot out around Kariya, spinning around him in a tornado pattern. Kariya flinched as the high, sharps winds, cut into his skin making Hiyori grin at his pain.

"Hiyori get ready to move your Zanpaktou back, I'm ready" Rukia yelled, to her. " Shi no mai, Torune-do Koori!"

Hiyori and Ichigo leaped away from Kariya at high speeds, but not before Hiyori cast Hado 61, Rikujokoro at Kariya trapping him in place. As he yelled, an enormous torando on snow and ice, began to form around him and covered an area of at least a mile around. Ichigo and Hiyori watched in silent awe as the tornado spun around Kariya faster and faster, with ice beganing to form on his skin, causing frostbite.

"Ichigo you need to finish this, can you?"Rukia yelled over the high wind.

"Yeah! I got this, Midget!" Ichigo yelled back. "Hiyori, you and Rukia get back a bit further, ok?"

Hiyori and Rukia flash steeped back even further while Ichigo held his zanpakotu up high, and his eyes glowed.

"See ya around, Kariya" Ichigo said, his sword glowing with blackan dred edged energy. " Getsuga… Tenshou!"

Ther wasa large explosion as the attack hit Kariya, and caused the ice and snow tornado to explode, blowing freezing air, and snow everywhere.

"Looks like we didn't need Mr. hat and clogs reishi sealing thingy, after all" Hiyori said grinning at the destruction. "Not to mention, that was so fucking cool!"

"It was fairly impressive, I'll say that" Rukia said, smirking. "Although as someone raised as a Kuchiki, I probably wouldn't use such colorful a description"

"Looks it's over, Kariya" Ichigo said, as the blowing snow died down.

"Actually Ichigo….I haven't even started…" Kariya's voice cut in. " Altough that was impressive,…. It's not enough to stop someone as determined as me!"

Wind was swirling around Kariya violently as he stood up, healing himself. Ichigo's eyes went wide, and he flashed-stepped to where Rukia and Hiyori were.

"I think things are going to get a bity harder here.." Ichigo commented as he landed near them. "Any ideas, ladies?"

"….different plan?" Hiyori asked, with a eyebrow raised.

Ichigo looked down at her, and nodded, while patting her on the top of her head "Yeah,…. I think that's a given"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, amd Hiyori Sarugaki…" Kariya said, a grin forming. "…I'm going to peel the flesh from your bones… and enjoy every second of it"

End of Chapter 37 to be continued…

It's been longer since my last update then I would have liked, so sorry about that. I haven't even used my computer much after being so busy lately. But please read, enjoy, and review. And I will finish this story, no matter what, and that's me promise to all you readers


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 39

Ichigo yelled super saying mode! And destroyed all in enemies in one shot, the end….. Yeah right, if only all problems could be solved so easily.. On with the real story…

"Hiyori speed attack him with me!" Ichigo said, to his pintsized girlfriend. "Rukia, I need you to throw whatever you can at him as well!"

"Right!" Rukia and Hiyori yelled back.

Ichigo closed his eyes and was in his inner world moments later.

"Old man.. Where's uh.. My hollow?" Ichigo asked looking at Zangetsu as he stood balancing on the hilt of a sword.

"I'm right here , king!" Said a creepy, voice that sounded like two people speaking together. "It's about time you came and visited me… it's been so long"

"I still talk and meet with Zangetsu,.. Though I suppose your right, I haven't checked up on you in a while…" Ichigo said, rubbing his chin. "Anyways, as you know I need your help. We need to combine our powers and go all out on this guy. No holding back"

"You can use my powers at will already, so why ask, king?" the hollow asked grinning. "Unless your feeling weak and want me to take things from-"

"No, I don't. I just want to ask to use your power instead of taking it" Ichigo said, looking away. " We're part of one another so, we should try to get a long a little, right?"

"I don't have to get along with you if I don't want to, king" Hollow Ichigo said, smirking. "However, if that's how you wanna play it to beat our enemies, then so be it. Borrow away, and cut this guy down already, he's starting to piss me off"

"Alright then, see you both later, hollow, Zangetsu" Ichigo said, smirking back at him. "Wish me luck"

"Good Luck, Ichigo" Zangetsu said in his usual calm voice, as he looked in his direction.

"Good luck then, king" Hollow Ichigo said, grinning wildly at him. "Remember,… if you lose, that means your weak and your body will be mine to have fun in"

"Right.." Ichigo said before opening his eyes as mere seconds had passed in the real world. "We have to finish this…"

"Tsugi no mai…" Rukia said, stabbing her Zanpaktou into the ground several times. Before shooting a blast of artic air from her blade as she thrust it forward. "…Hakuren!"

Kariya dodged most of it beside his hand which he smashed against a nearby building to break the ice off of. He then moved out of the way again as Hiyori artwork, moments later, not giving him time to heal.

"Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu!" Hiyori called out shoot out wave after wave of sharp violent air blast at him, keeping him from on the move. "Put up a fight you worthless ass! Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu!"

Ahh!…you annoying little bitch! I'm going to enjoy slicing your throat!" Kariya growled, with several bleeding gashes on his arms and legs. " Then I'll go for.. Ahh!"

Not giving him time to finish or heal, Rukia attacked by slashing her Zanpaktou at him several times, forcing him to keep on the move.

"Alright , my turn…" Ichigo said in a low voice as he put his hand up and pulled it in a downward movement, creating his hollow mask to appear.

He flash-stepped near Hiyori telling her to hold back, since he was going to finish it, before disappearing again to tell Rukia the same.

"Kariya, it's about to be over" Ichigo said, appearing right behind him. "This has gone on long enough"

Kariya glance behind his shoulder and grinned, despite the pain he was in. "Ichigo? It's about time you fought your own bat-"

Ichigo didn't give him anytime to finish or to heal any further then he had started to do. He slashed diagonally at him and left a long bloody gash in his back, making him yelled out in pain as stumbled forward. Ichigo wasn't truly a violent person, but he knew he needed to be relentless in his attacks so he immediately, continued after him.

Before Karyia could react much Ichigo used his superior speed gained by his Bankai and mask, to kick him backward and held up his sword, that glowed with black and red energy, in the air.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo yelled out, shooting forward a enormous crescent wave of black and red energy at him, clear out a large path of destruction as it shot forward. It tore away building and ground alike till it reach a wide-eyed Kariya, who tried to speed out of the way.

He was only partially successful in dodging the attack however and clutched the heavily bleeding place where his left arm had been only moments before. He tried to heal it but Hiyori saw this and used her Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu on him again, keeping him on the move.

Ichigo was again in him, relentlessly, as soon as Kariya tried to dodge Hiyori's attack, and after a few more powerful blows Ichigo caught him off guard and pinned him to at nearby wall.

"Well…*cough* it appears you've been training all this time.. *cough, cough*" Kariya said spitting out a little blood. "But what now, Ichigo Kurosaki?.. *cough, cough, cough* Do you have the guts to finish me off for good? Cause if you don't I'll escape and kill all of your family friends, while you watch.."

"I.. I wont kill you, no matter what you've done, how much you want to do or how much of a asshole you are, it's what I do" Ichigo said, growling as he held his sword against him. "You'll have to stick with being locked up, and me keeping an eye on you"

"Hehehehe…Hahahahaha!.. You have a great sense of humor, for a human" Kariya said grinning despite being in pain. "You'll never be able to stop me unless you kill me.. And if threatening your friends and family won't get you to kill me.. Then I'll have to kill you"

He grabbed the blade of Ichigo's sword with his remaining arm and yanked it yo the side, pulling a small knife surrounded by wind from his back pocket it and aiming it as Ichigo.

Ichigo went wide-eyed, and froze, unable to react so close to him. He was going to die..

Ichigo's hollow saw his king's hesitation and where the knife was pointed, and reacted for Ichigo. He made Ichigo knee Kariya in the stomach and grab the wrist of the hand holding the knife when he lost balance. As fast as he could he turned his hand around and shoved the knife upward, driving it deep into Kariya.

"Wait, I didn't mean too.. It was my… damn it" Ichigo stuttered out ,trying to let go of the blade, but Kariya held his wrist keeping it in place.

"Looks like you actually.. *cough* do have the guts to kill me after all, *cough, cough*Ichigo Kurosaki" Kariya said as blood begin to pour from his stab wound. "You seem to be *cough*

Extremely lucky kid…"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, holding Kariya upright by one of his shoulders.

"I don't know ..how you knew I fused with my doll. But you managed to inflict a mortal injury on me where my doll is connected…. Thus killing my doll and me somehow… truly lucky indeed…*cough, cough cough*"

"I didn't know… what did you hope to accomplish invading?" Ichigo asked, changing the subject. " Did you really think you'd win?"

"Maybe...maybe not, but I have my reasons, Ichigo Kurosaki. For all things I've done till this point, and I'll let you in on something.*couch cough*.." Kariya said as blood poured out of his wound. " I may not get my revenge by destroying the Soul Society.. But _HE_ will.. That I can promise… you….."

"_He_?,.. Who's _he_?" Ichigo asked still confused. "And what is _he_ going to do?"

"You'll…find …out *cough, cough, cough*… soon enough " Kariya said, coughing up blood. "And you will all ..suff…er.."

Kariya slumped forward, sliding against Ichigo's now blood soaked hands and uniform .Moments later he begin to dissolve into dust that blew away, till nothing of Kariya remained but the blood that stained Ichigo.

Ichigo let go of his blood soaked knife, and let it fell to the ground with a thud near his Zanpaktou.

"Ichigo?…" Rukia said, slowly walking near him as Hiyori did the same. "Are you…are you ok?"

"…I guess ..I… I'm a bit confused though.." Ichigo answered looking up at the sky. "I uh… see you around, girls sorry.. Take care of Zangetsu , would you Hiyori? I need.. To think.."

"Um, I guess I can , but what are you…" She started to say before Ichigo flash-stepped out of sight. "….are you going to do?… *sigh* I hope he's alright"

"So do I…we should check on the others, make sure their ok though.." Rukia said resealing her Zanpaktou into her sheath. " Come on, you need to take his sword and either find him or head back to your squad barraks, I'll try to find the others and see how their battles with the other Bounts faired"

"…yeah, ok I guesss" Hiyori said, crouching down and wiping away siome of the blood on the sword. " Man this thing is heavy… must weight like a hundred pounds.. Which is nearly double what I weight.."

"Just try to drag it back the best you can" Rukai said before flash-stepping away.

"Yeah, thanks for offering to help with it…bitch.." Hiyori grumbled out taken a hold of the cloth on the end of the sword's grip. "Ichigo better repay me for this big time when….*sigh* I hope he's ok, that moron"

Rukia soon caught up with Soifon, Yoruichi and Tatsuki who were all catching their breaths near a large burnt spot on the ground.

"You three seemed to have done well, like me, Ichigo and Hiyori did" Rukia commented to them. "Where are the others at?"

"We should be getting word from them any time and… just a second.." Soifon said, as two hell butterflies landed on her fingertips.

"What do they say , Soifon?" Yoruichi asked hands on hips.

"One of them is from squad 1's lieutenant Sasakibe, and it says all but one of the crests have been found and sealed away" Soifon said, before releasing the hell butterflies. "The other is from the others, stating that Kenpachi has killed the bount known as Koga and the other bounts have also been defeated, though they all recived various injuries in the process"

"As long as they are ok.." Rukia said, with a small half smile.

"Yes I suppose … wait ! where is Ichigo?" Soifon asked, looking around. "And his ankle biting Lieutenant as well?"

"Were not really sure where Ichigo ran off to after killing Kariya…" Rukai said with furrowed brows. " Hiyori on the other hand ,is taking care of Ichigo's sword as he asked before flash-stepping away"

"I see…. Then we should focus on getting this bount here to a appropriate prison as soon as possible" Soifon said, trying to hide her concern for Ichigo. "…Hopefully, the loudmouthed midget will go look for him while we're busy"

"So exactly happened , Rukia?" Yoruichi asked, sitting on the ground cross-legged. "you said Ichigo killed Kariya ..but it sounds like there's more to it then that.."

"Yes there is, as a matter of fact…" Rukia said, sitting down as well. "It went roughly like this…"

Quite some distance away, Ichigo came to a stop at the training cave, he and Hiyori had achieved Bankai at. He entered the cave and took a seat on a large rock, staring up at the ceiling high above. He though he had his hollow under control, but it took control of him.. _Then again_,. He thought to himself. _He did save me from being killed and he stopped Kariya, so should I be thankful of what he did or not?.. _

_Yes, you should king…. Your slowness almost got us injured.. Maybe even killed depending on where he stabbed us.. _The hollows voice said echoing in his head. _Be thankful I need you to stay alive for me to stay alive.._

_Whatever… thanks I guess.. Just don't do that again _Ichigo said to him in his mind.

"I thought I felt your spiritual pressure nearby, little brother" Kukaku exclaimed, startling Ichigo.

"Kukaku! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked with wide eyes.

"Me and the others were battling one of the Bounts in the area" Kukaku said, sitting on a boulder next to him. "I was felt your spiritual pressure nearby and decided to find out why you weren't with the two midgets"

"Hmm? Oh you mean Hiyori and Rukia…. No reason I just… *sigh*…." Ichigo said, trailing off.

"What happened?… I said…WHAT HAPPENED!" She yelled a few inches from him.

"WHAT THE HELL KUKAKU! Ichigo yelled at her inches from her face. "WHY CAN'T ANYONE FROM THE SOUL SOCEITY BE NORMAL!"

"Ehhh normal's overrated, abnormal is the new thing that everyone's into" Kukaku said calmly again, pulling out a rice ball from seemingly nowhere and taking a big bite. "Now then, whats the problem?"

"…. I don't know…" Ichigo finally answered, breaking the silence.

"You're a horrible lier, little brother" She said, eating the rest of her rice ball.

"Am not… witch.." Ichigo said scowling.

"Are too, asshole" She said, pulling out another rice ball and shoving it up his open mouth. " I've had two brother before you, Kaien and Ganju. It's useless for you to try and lie to me…. So quite bitching and then tell me whats wrong"

"….Fine…. it's like this…" Ichigo said ,describing all that had happened during the battle with Kariya. ".. and that's the jest of it"

"I see…. Guess it couldn't be helped… although your inner hollow temporarily taking over is another thing" Kukaku commented, folding her arms. "Is it out of control again or something?"

"No, nothing like that.. In fact I guess he saved us in a way" Ichigo said, in monotone voice. "but it doesn't matter.. I had to kill a guy… I mean, I'm fine with killing hollows because it's not really killing them, but this time…. it wasn't even me in control when it happened"

"Damn your depressing sometimes… stop moping!" She said, cracking on top of his head. "…and grow some balls already!"

'…." Ichigo just glared at her as he rubbed his sore head.

"She's right, moron.." said a small, but fierce voice from behind them. "You need to get over it and move on. Get use to the fact that not all battles will end with both combatants alive"

"I figure you'd find me sooner or later, snaggletooth" Ichigo said, knowing who it was by voice alone and thus not bother to look behind himself.

"Got that right… anyways, she right botu you dealing with this thing you have with killing an enemy" Hiyori said, walking over to Ichigo and Kukaku. "What would happen if a enemy had your sisters held captive and the only way to stop them, was kill the enemy? Would you do it or let your sisters die?"

'That's not a question that needs to be answered, I'd find a way to save them… without killing" Ichigo said, looking forward.

"Then you're a fool…" Hiyori said, in a surprisingly cold tone. "If I as your enemy, I could easily kill your sisters before you could blink… killing me would be the only way to stop me… but like any enemy I wouldn't hesitate to killing them if it meant it would hurt you emotionally"

"I understand your point.. But I just can't change overnight, nobody can" Ichigo said, folding his arms. "I know there will be times when killing an enemy will be unavoidable, but… it's not something I'm looking forward to"

"Never said it should. Taking a life shouldn't make you happy, unless your a monster.. Kariya was such a monster" Hiyori said, stepping forward and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"…."

"So..what are you doing to do now?" Kukaku asked, rasing any eyebrow.

"I'm….I'm not sure…." Ichigo said, after a moment. "…But moping isn't going to change things.. Guess I need to deal with this, and move on. I'm going to talk to Zangetsu,… he does know me best after all"

"Fine.. I'll talk with my Zanpaktou, Kubikiri Orochi as well…. Nothing else to do for now afterall" Hiyori said, sitting down in the lotus postion on the ground next to Ichigo. " Besides that stupid slut keeps bothering me… might as well visit her"

"The differences between how you two consider your Zanpaktous is always funny as hell" Kukaku said smirking, as she headed towards the exit of the cave. "I'm going to go check on Ganju, make sure he hasn't burnt down my house… make sure you two stop by for dinner tonight… and if your still moping, I'm going to kick your ass all night Ichigo, got me?"

"See ya later, sis" Ichgo said, only moments before he entered his inner world.

Heuco Mundo…..

"Gin… it's seems you didn't even have to do anything…. And young Kurosaki did not have to use the spirtual energy sealing device afterall…interesting.." Azien said, with a barely there smile.

"Yes, I lucked out it seems, didn't I lord Aizen?" Ichimaru said, with his usual snake grin. " So what happened nnow that our loose ends in the Bounts have benn taken care of?"

"Unfortunately there is little we can do at the moment.." Aizne replied, turning towards Ichimaru. "It will still be some time before the Hogyoku awakens completely…."

"Then what do we do in the mean time? Sitting around doing nothing isn't my style" Ichimaru said with a rare frown on his face. "I hope you have something planned that's fun, otherwise, waiting for the time to act out our plans is going to be one boring time"

"It not for you to question Lord Aizen's ways" said a deadpan, and soft voice, belonging to a pale skinned young man with a permanent frown on his face.

"Ah, Ulquiorra.. Good to see you join us.." Aizen said with a smile. "Is there something you needed?"

"I am simply here to await any and all orders you might have for me , lord Aizen" Ulquiorra replied, while crouching on on knee. "Is there a mission for me?"

"Not yet, but soon. Just have patience Ulquiorra" Aizen said, turning away. " For now, just practice and keep your skills sharp"

"Of course, as you wish" Ulquiorra replied, bowinga backing out of the room. "I will be ready when you call, lord Aizen"

"Such a suck up, hehehe.. Isn't he?" Ichimaru asked laying back in his chair where he sat.

"Perhaps…. But he has his uses" Azien said, walking out onto the balcony connected to his conference room. "Tell me Gin,… do you believe the Soul Soceity will pose any threat to our plans this winter?"

"Is that a trick question?.. Probably not much, though hopefully they'll provide some amusement to us" Ichimaru said, standing up and walking out to the balcony with Aizen. "What about Ichigo Kurosaki?.. You have admit, he's far stronger then we originally realized"

"Indeed he is… maybe he'll be the one to provide us with amussment this winter,… even if the rest of the Soul Society doesn't" Azien said, looking out at the dead tree-like objects made of quartz that were spread across the white sands of Hueco Mundo. "I've got my eye on you, ….Ichigo Kurosaki"

End of chapter 39 to be continued in chapter 40

Hey it's me ,Mr. procrastinator here. I think that apologizing for such a long time between chapter updates at this point seems pointless, so, I won't. ok ,ok, I'm sorry ,happy? Any ways please read, review, and of course, most importantly, enjoy. I hope me ending the Bount saga in a different way then it did in the anime doesn't make anyone angry. I was getting tired of the Bounts, and wanted to get rid of them… anyways, I guess I'll see you soon, unless the world is invaded by alien anime girl cheerleaders who demand they that I go with them to their home world and help them repopulate it…. Which probably has only a .0000000001% chance of happening.. So I guess I'll see you all soon, bye for now!


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 40

After talking to his Zanpaktou, Zangetsu and his hollow, he decided to take some time to visit his sisters and dad in the world of the living, along with his friends who had already returned to the real world, as well. After Hiyori hit in the hit a few times he even agreed to get official permission to go instead of just leaving without saying anything.

After finally arriving through the Senkaimon near Urahara's shop he and Hiyori decide to go in and see what Mr. Hat and clogs was up to and get Ichigo his body back of course. After retrieving his body and Hiyori's Gigai, That chatted with Urahara which of course ended with Hat and clogs getting kicked in the face by Hiyori for making a perverted comment. Soon after, they decided to go ahead and go to Ichigo's house to se his family.

On the way to Ichigo's house, they ran into Orihime who was delighted to them again.

"I've missed you both Ichigo, Hiyori" Orihime said smiling brightly. " We didn't have a change to talk in the Soul Society after what was happening with the Bounts and all.. So how long can you stay?"

"Only a couple of days this time.. Unless I decide to ignore it and stay longer cause I feel like it, it depends" Ichigo said bluntly. "So where were you heading, anyways Orihime?"

"Well I saw they had this great sale for leaks and jelly beans , so I thought "you know what would be great Orihime? A pot of leak and jelly bean soup with curry powder, that's what" Orihime said, matter of factly. "Oh, would you two like some? It's really great with corn bread and gravy with sprinkles"

They both turned a shade of green when she asked them if they wanted any and politely (mostly in Hiyori's case) turned down her offer.

"Oh that's too bad… but we should all get together tomorrow.. Tatsuki and Chad and Mizuiro and Keigo too…" She said counting off her fingers. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Orihime. How about we all meet up at the Karakura Community Park in Mashiba at say noon?" Ichigo replied, to which she agreed. "Ok then, I gotta go see my family ,so we see you then Orihime, bye"

"Ok…um Hiyori…can I ask you something… in private?" Orihime asked as Hiyori and Ichigo were about to walk away. "I promise I won't take long or anything"

"Um…I guess… why don't you go visit goat chin and your sisters. " Hiyori said, glancing over at him. "I'll catch up, Ichigo"

"Sure, don't take too snaggletooth…I'll see ya tomorrow Orihime" Ichigo said with a nod and half wave before he walked off with his hands in his pockets.

After Ichigo was out of sight, Hiyori turned to Orihime ,who was looking nervous.

"So jiggles.. I mean Orihime, what do ya want?" Hiyori asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her usual red jogging pants.

"Well I ..that is… I was wondering if…" Orihime said ,stuttering out and taking a deep breath and shouting. "I want you to train me to fight and help Ichigo and the others better!"

Hiyori looked at her wide eyed and unblinking at her outburst for several minutes. After the hamster on the wheel of her mind started running again, Hiyori finally responded.

"What the hell do you mean, train you?" She asked, one eyebrow raised and confused expression on her face.

"Well I.. I don't wanna be a burden anymore… I was so helpless and couldn't do much of anything when we faced the Bounts recently, just heal the others…." Orihime said, looking sad and determined at the same time. "Please, teach me how to fight… so I can help more"

"Your…serious, aren't you?" Hiyori asked, pulling her hands out of her pockets. "Trust me, when I say your not someone who can learn to fight…you don't have the spirit for it"

"But I… I want to change!" Orihime said, tearing up and balling her fists. "I know I'm weak .. But I want to become stronger…to protect the people I care about"

"Ehh….you don't understand do you…. I guess I'll have to blunt, even though it will upset you.." Hiyori said, turning around and looking up at the sky. " I'm sorry, but your too weak and pathetic to ever be a help on the battlefield.. You'll only be a burden to others….so stick with healing people"

"I won't take no for an answer! I know I'm pathetic, and weak… that I was no help at all when we rescued Rukia…. Or when we faced the Bounts… but …" Orihime said, trailing off. "…But I need to get stronger to prove I can get better…and .and I'm not asking for your help...I...I'm demanding it!...so stop being…. Being a little bitch!"

Hiyori looked back at her shocked slightly ,and Orihime had her hands over her own mouth, wearing a similar expression of surprise. Hiyori was suddenly in her face with a menacing look on her face, starting into her eyes.

"I…I'm sorry… I didn't mean to say..!" Orihime stuttered out, sweating slightly as Hiyori grinning evilly suddenly.

"Good.. Maybe you got some guts under your enormous breasts, afterall.. If your that adamant about getting trained…then so be it. But I'm warning you right now, little girl…" Hiyori said, her grin fading into a scowl. "I will work your ass to the bone… and by the time were done…you will curse the day you asked me to train you… curse the day, I showed up here in the world of the living…curse the day I became a soul reaper, and curse the day I was born… simply put, you will hate my guts with every fiber of my being on one hand, but thoroughly respect me on the other…understand girl?"

Orihime looked incredibly nervous, so much she couldn't speak , only nod repeatedly. Hiyori grinned, happily and patted her on the back ,startling her.

"Loosen up a little, I bet your so tightly wound, you would pass out if someone were to surprise you again right now…huh?" She asked Orihime. "Training will begin the day after tomorrow, 6 am sharp, at the training ground at Urahara's shop. Got it? Good .See you tomorrow, then"

With that she left the still nervous, but relieved as well, Orihime there and walked off. Orihime took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I will get stronger and protect the people I love…Tatsuki….Ichigo… everyone" Orihime said, fiercely. "I can't give up ,no matter what, …cause Ichigo would never give up.. And I can't either!"

Hiyori finally arrived at the Kurosaki residence to find Ichigo standing there outside, by the front gate.

"About time you showed up, brat" Ichigo said with his arms crossed. "What did Orihime want anyways?"

"Just girl stuff, you know" Hiyori said, walking up to him. "..Did you wait out here till I got back?.. I bet you haven't even gone inside yet, have you?"

"First off, I don't really see you doing any girl stuff, and secondly , yes, I wait for you before I went inside" Ichigo said, nodding to her as he opened the gate and they walked in down the path to his front door.

"You know I can take care of myself, moron. I'm not a fucking kid or anything, I'm older then you in fact" Hiyori said, scowling at him. "Why I fell for a moron of a guy I'll never know…your lucky you have at least some good qualities too"

"It's probably the same reason I fell for such a fowl mouthed, little brat...it's cause I love you, snaggletooth" Ichigo said, stopping them and leaning forward towards her, while she did the same.

Their lips were about to meet when a dark shape launched itself out of nowhere at them, yelling out "Hello their Ichigooo! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo said in a loud annoyed tone as he quickly brought his leg up and kicked the man in his stomach, sending him flying into the front door.

The man, who was of course, Isshin Kurosaki, laid there for a moment be tilting his head up and shakily giving him a thumbs up. "Way to go my son….your getting better and better…"

"I swear…for adult and former soul Reaper…he sure acts like a child" Ichigo said, as he and Hiyori walked over his body to get inside the house, though Hiyori purposely brought her foot down between his legs as she step on him, making Isshin cry out in pain.

"What's all the noise out here, I'm trying to do my stupid … oh.. Ichigo" Karin said coming to a stop as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "I was wondering when you'd take time out of your schedule to actually visit us.. It's about fucking time too"

"ICHIGO! Your back!" Yuzu cried, jumping at Ichigo with her arms wide open. "We missed you so much, big brother , didn't we Karin?!"

"Yeah…I guess…." Karin said with a slight smile. "Good to see you again, Ichigo"

"Yeah it's good to see you both .. And the moron on the floor over there too" Ichigo said back. "Don't forget about Hiyori too"

"Hiyori!" Yuzu yelled running over to her to try to hug her. _Try to_ being the operative words as Hiyori moved out the way so fast ,one would have thought she used flashed step to avoid the young girl.

Hiyori shared a grin with Karin as she took as seat at the nearby dinning room table and put her feet up.

"So.. What brings you here from the Soul Society, Ichigo?" Isshin asked, his injuries forgotten. "I hope it's not more trouble… you two seem to be magnets for it"

"No, nothing like that,… this time at least" Ichigo said, sitting next to Hiyori. "And we're not magnets for trouble, it's not our fault we keep getting pulled into crap"

"Anyways…..you let your guard done!" Isshin yelled trying to jump kick him while he sat at the table.

Hiyori turned around and brought her foot up, connecting with his stomach, stopping him in his tracks.

Ichigo mumbled out dumbass as he watched.

"Oh.. My dear Masaki! Why is our future daughter in law so cruel?!" Isshin cried out crawling over to the giant poster of his dead wife. "and Our son is just as mean! Where did I go wrong!"

"Where do I begin?…putting up a giant poster of our dead mom, randomly attack your son every chance you get, being perverted towards your own daughters, acting like a dumbass…." Karin said, trailing off. "…Not to mention you're a grown man but you act like a child most of the time… should I go on ,or do you get the point yet, goat chin?"

"Hard to believe all of his children are smart, when he's a dumbass.." Hiyori said, grabbing a banana from a bowl of fruit on the table. "So…what now?"

"I'm going to take a shower, you can stay here or lay in my room or something, Hiyori" Ichigo said, getting up and kissing Hiyori on her cheek. "And I'll see you girls in a little while, Yuzu and Karin"

After Ichigo walked up the stair and out of sight, Isshin stood up and stretched.

"I'll be back shortly, I'm going to go and lock up the clinic for the night" He said, walking out of sight. "I'll be back for your delicious diner, Yuzu my sweet!"

"So Hiyori, can I ask you a question, since were the only two in the room?…" Karin asked, waiting for her to nod that she could. "Ichigo loks a little tense… I think he needs to get laid, why don't you two stop beating around the bush and do it already?"

Hiyori sputtered and nearly choked on her banana that was eating. Karuin hit her in her back and helped her out. A few moments later she was ok, but didn't wanna andswer her question.

"Well I'll take the silence as you've already banged him ,or you haven't yet.. Either way, Just go ahead anf get it over with" Karin said, to her standing up. "You two are taking things too slow … just jump him and take it… I'm sure you'll have fun..from what I've heard anyway"

"Aren't you to young to think about that stuff?.." Hiyori asked red faced.

"Not really, I'm 11 years old, and already had sex ed class a while back…." Karin ,sasid, blushing slightly despite the fact that she was the one who brought it up. "Look, as your aware, my brother is a caring person, but he's also denser then a concrete walkway… so if you do wanna go far in your relationship with him, you'll have to take charge, or you'll be stuck at cheek kisses, and hand holding all your lives"

"…I'll take that under consideration…"Hiyori said, embarrassed about being advised on relationships by a 11 year old. "I'm going to go and grab a manga magazine before Ichigo gets out of the shower"

"Sure ,just don't go peaking on him while he's showering…" Karin said with a grin. "Unless your really quiet, so he doesn't see you"

While Hiyori was ignoring the teasing of Ichigo's sister Karin, we travel to another dimension known as the Soul Society, where a strange , tall skinny man with pale skin and brown shaggy hair stood on top of a boulder, over looking district 80 of North Rukon, also known as Zaraki. It was a violent, lawless area that reveled in chaos and death… a place where no one cared what happened to anyone and everyone watched out only for themselves.

"Look at these people...if you can call them that…violent, disgusting, pathetic waists of space…" The man said, looking at the town. "Soon , it will all be wiped away… very soon… I must get going however.. To Sokyoku Hill.."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Soul Society, strange beings were sitting a table being restless. One of the beings, a beautiful, curvy, and well endowed female stood up crossing her arms under her considerable sized chest. She had maroon colored hair, cat ears, light pink fur covering parts of body, and a cat's tail that swung around as if with a mind of it's own.

"I am soooo freaking bored!" She complained out loud, in a shrill tone, making the others presence cringe. "I'm going out side to find something to do!"

Another woman there, wearing a pal, almost white colored kimono, moved in front of her , stopping the catgirl in her tracks. She had long pale lavender hair and a cool, calm look in her eyes.

"Do not be impatient .." The pale woman said, calmly. " We still have others that have yet to join us"

"Others?….sheesh…. I could use some sake…" the cat girl said, frowning. "Just how many others are going to join us anyway?"

"If you ask me, I could handle this on my own" a man in the shadows said. "I don't need any help"

"Calm yourselves…all of you" said the pale man from before as he walked down some stairs. "It wont be long now before all of our comrades awaken… and then we may leave this cave"

"But I wanna leave now!" She started to say, until he raised hand in her face.

"Calm yourself…." The man said calmly. "…the reign of the Soul Reaper will soon come to an end"

In another part of the Soul Society, in the squad 6 barracks to be exact, Renji Abarai is trading blows with his captain, Byakuya Kuchiki as he trains to make himself a better lieutenant. Renji dodged Byakuya's sword and countered with his own blow. Byakuya released his Zanpaktou and sent the cheery blossom blades at Renji, who did his best to dodge or block the numerous tiny blades.

Captain's Ukitake and Kyoraku were watching from the sidelines, seeing how good Renji had gotten. As they watched , Byakuya admitted, but just in his head, that Renji had indeed gotten better in a short amount of time. He wielded Senbonzakura's swarm of tiny blades as he moved the group towards Renji and as he did he felt the swarm waver and he lost control of his Zanpaktou. He felt the blades ignore his command and cut his arm, making his eyes widen. The control laws back however, as quickly as it was lost, but not before Renji gained the upper hand and won the training spar.

"Nice job Renji" Captain Kyoraku said, clapping his hands lightly.

"Indeed, excellent form, Lieutenant" Captain Ukitake said, standing next to his fellow captain. "He's getting good, isn't he Captain Kuchiki?"

Byakuya was staring at his sealed Zanpaktou, not saying a word . He had been cut by his own Zanpaktou during the spar with Renji….that was impossible.. And yet it had happened, leaving him confused and troubled. Without another word, he flash stepped out of sight, leaving his lieutenant and the two captains standing there confused.

"What was that about?" Captain Ukitake asked, staring at the place where Byakuya had just been.

"Yeah. I'll say.." Captain Kyoraku asked, as he looked over at Renji "Any ideas Renji?"

"No captain, none" Renji replied resealing his sword and putting it in it's sheath. "He seemed fine… weird"

8888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888888888888888 88888888888888888888888888

It was the next day in the morning area before noon and Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya was kneeling outside his barracks for squad 10 and was trying to figure out why his Zanpaktou wasn't responding to him. _Please answer me Hyorinmaru … _Captain Hitsugaya thought in his mind as he attempted to contact the spirit of his Zanpaktou.

Finally Hyorinmaru appeared in his inner world in it ice dragon form ,though it stayed silent. He reached out to it, but the ice dragon pulled away from his hand.

"What's wrong Hyorinmaru?" Hitsugaya asked , perplexed by his Zanpaktou's behavior. "Hey wont you speak to me?.."

Instead of answering him however, Hyorinmaru returned to it's sword form, leaving Captain Hitsugaya sitting there cross-legged on his own. Confused and aggravated , he stood up and walk to his captain's office to get some paperwork done.

He slide open the double doors and walked in, and down the hall till he reached his office, only to find his lazy lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, arguing.

"Rangiku…who are you arguing with?" Hitsugaya asked as he walked in with his eyes slightly , shut in frustration.

"It's Haineko, Captain…" Rangiku said, in a annoyed voice as she hit her sheathed Zanpaktou against the wall repeatedly. "She's being a pain the ass and wont answer me…stupid sword"

She started yelling at her sword as Isane and Nanao appeared at his door , and were surprised by Rangiku was doing.

"Um…..Rangiku…why are you yelling at your Zanpaktou?" Isane asked, tiling her head to one side.

"I want to get strong but Haineko refuses to manifest for me" Rangiku replied , not looking away from her sword. "I don't know here she get's her stubbornness from"

Hitsugaya mumbled out something that sounded suspiciously like from you, you moron as Nanao shook her head and Isane looking down to her own Zanpaktou.

"Rangiku, if it makes you feel any better, my Zanpaktou ,Itegumo , hasn't responded my summons in the past couple of days either" Isane said, looking up at her while Hitsugaya looked shocked. "I've been worried about her, but I'm not sure what to do"

"Huh….that's weird… do you think it's a coincidence, Captain?…um.. Captain?" Rangiku asked ,trying to get his attention as he looked down at his Zanpaktou that was leaning upright against his desk. "What is it Captain?"

"Her Zanpaktou's not responding….yours isn't.. and either is mine" He mumbled in reply. "Just what's going on here right now?…."

End of Chapter 40

To be continued

Sorry about the long assed wait between chapters but I've been busy taking care of some personal business involving my current girlfriend and also helping out a girl who's been my best friend for over 10 years now, and I almost went out with due to our mutual feels for each other… either way I haven't had a lot of time to do this story's chapter as fast as I wanted to. I'll try to put out the next chapter as soon as I can, but no promises. I will write it though, no leaving u hanging or anything .. So read, enjoy and tell me what you think. See you all soon


	42. Chapter 42

Head Captain Yamamoto was in his office late at night, when the main doors open and he nodded to his Lieutenant to see who was there. Lieutenant Sasakibe clenched the handle of his Zanpaktou as he approached the open doors and Captain Yamamoto heard his normally calm lieutenant gasp at what he saw…. Meanwhile, across the Seireitei, s large number of Soul Reapers began receiving messages from hell butterflies, summoning them to Sokyoku Hill. Among these were most of, if not all of, the captains and lieutenants, minus the head captain and his lieutenant as well as Ichigo and Hiyori too.

"Captain.. Any idea why we were summoned here?" Rangiku asked her short, white haired captain as they walked along the path leading to the hill. "I was in the middle of doing paper work"

"We both know that's a lie, Rangiku.. You were drinking as usual" Captain Hitsugaya said, in a irritated voice, as they walked up the stairs to the execution grounds. "I was the only one doing paper work… as usual…"

"Be thankful your captain actually does paper work, unlike mine" Lieutenant Nanao said as she walked up by her. " Captain Kyoraku is only interested in flirting and drinking himself unconscious"

"That's not nice, my little Nanao" Captain Kyoraku said, pouting at his Lieutenant from behind her as she ignored him and continued walking.

"Sounds like you should be running the squad instead of him" Renji said, popping up near them as he walked by Captain Kuchiki. "Anyways.. Why on the hill for?"

"I too am perplexed by this summon.. and the location as well" Byakuya said ,looking forward as he walked. "Is that…Lieutenant Sasakibe …at the top of the hill ?"

"I think it is.." Rangiku said, as they reach the top of the hill. "But where's the head Captain? He almost never leaves his side as far as I know"

Sure enough the head captain's lieutenant, Chojiro Sasakibe was there, walking slowly towards them. Just before he reached the group of approaching Soul Reapers he stumbled , obviously hurt ,and collapsed to the ground. Some of the Soul Reapers from squad 4, including the captain and lieutenant rush forward to help him.

"Will he be alright, Captain Unohana?" Lieutenant Kotetsu asked, as they kneeled by Lieutenant Sasakibe's body and began healing him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will" said the voice of the same mysterious man from earlier. "Which is more then I can say for your Head Captain"

"And just what did you do to the Head Captain, little man!?" the deep voice of the Captain of squad 7, Sajin Komamura demanded. "If anything is wrong with him I shall have your head…whoever you are!"

"Who am I you ask?… you may call me Muramasa…." The man said, smiling at the Soul Reapers assembled there. "And your days are all numbered…"

"Well see about that!" Captain Komamura roared releasing his Zanpaktou, Tenken. "Time to either tell us where the Head captain is or die!"

"I will do no such thing Soul Reaper" Muramasa said calmly. "And there is little you can do to stop what is about to occur either"

"If your not talking ..then your going down!" Komamura yelled. holding his sword high. "BANKAI!…Kokujo Tengen Myo'o! "

A giant armored samurai appeared behind Komamura hold a huge sword in one hand. Komamura swung his Zanpaktou in a downward arc in Muramasa's direction the giant, but instead pf aiming at him the giant aimed his massive sword at his master , Komamura, cutting him down in a spray of blood, to everyone's shock and surprise.

Muramasa smiled at the shocked Soul Reapers as Squad 4 member ran to help Captain Komamura and others tried to release their own Zanpaktou, only to find that they couldn't, despite trying several times.

"I said Roar, Zabimaru !… damn it!" Renji yelled out in frustration. "Why can't release our Zanpaktous?!"

"It's more then just that… there's no Reishi in our Zanpaktous either" Captain Kurotsuchi said, looking at his sword. "Explain what it is you have done to them at once, fool"

"There is actually a simple explanation that answers both of those questions" Muramasa said, smiling as Tenken stood towering behind him. " I have freed the Zanpaktou from your control. They are no longer your slaves and have given in to their true inhibitions"

"Enough!" Hitsugaya yells, trying in vain to release his Zanpaktou. "What do you mean you've freed our Zanpaktou?!"

"Why must you complicate things?… it is just as I have said" Muramasa said, talking to him as if he was a child. " Perhaps more evidence is in order…"

Elsewhere in side the Seireitei , amidst giants explosions ,a mysterious black figure appeared in the shadows and grinned with bright white sharp teeth. He jumped in a flash, cutting down several unranked soul reapers.

"He's such a animal" Said a female voice from a unseen place. "I'm willing to give you all of change to flee before I kill you at least…so, will you leave?"

"Like hell we will!" one of the Soul Reapers yelled in defiance at the female voice.

"Very well… then please except my apologies in advance for this…" The female said, coming into view and brandishing a sash with a bell on each end of it. "Deflect!"

This girl, who was short and dressed in a white kimono and purple hakama, twirled around, sending several fireballs at the groups of Soul Reapers from her bells, causing them to scatter and causing explosions as well.

Other Soul Reapers, in another part of the Seireitei , begin fighting a large muscular man with messy orange hair, and a three part pole weapon in his hands.

"This is pathetic…" The large man said, as he easily knocked away several Soul Reapers into a near by wall. "You weaklings have no change of defeating me.."

"Perhaps not.. But Muramasa calls us at the moment" A pale women in a white Kimono, as she appeared near the man, and put her hand on his shoulder.

He walked away from the unconscious Soul Reapers, while the women turned around and faced a small group that came upon the scene, and raised her fingertips to them.

"You are all pathetic… however, I take refuge in the fact that you haven't awakened your Zanpaktous in order to begin their enslavement" She said before her fingers glowed white and speaking calmly with her eyes closed. "Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren"

A blast of snow and ice shot out of her hand, freezing the Soul Reapers in their place, before she too left the area.

Back on Sokyoku Hill, Muramasa continued staring down the Soul Reapers present there.

"Hehehe.. You fools should realize.." Muramasa says, smirking at them, while blood began running from his eyes. "…That this…. is only the beginning"

As he spoke, humanoid forms of their Zanpaktous begin materializing next to their wielders, before walking away from them and standing by Muramasa. The Soul Reapers there were in such shock, that no one could speak immediately.

"This night… and all that's happened so far, signify several glorious things…" Muramasa stated, breaking the silence. "This is but the first step in the end of your enslavement of the Zanpaktou...and.. The end of the Soul Reaper's reign…."

"What nonsense is this?" Captain Kurotsuchi snarled, gripping his sword tightly. "Just what are you planning, you worm!?"

"You'll see.." Muramasa said, smiling as he held out his hand, and a Zanpaktou materialized in it. "You'll all see, soon enough…"

Muramasa thrust his blade into the ground, sending violent energy surging, that tore up Sokyoku hill as the Soul Reapers stood there watching angry but helpless. The manifested Zanpaktou spirits race at the Soul Reapers there and numerous clashes begin to occur between the two groups.

It was a little while later, in the world of the living, and Ichigo, and Hiyori, knowing nothing off the chaos in the Soul Society, had met up with Ichigo's friends at Karakura Community Park like it had been discussed. Everyone arrived on time to hang out together, except Keigo, who slept in and showed up a half hour late… not that anyone cared much mind you, it's just Keigo afterall. (Hey! What's that suppose to mean, narrator dude!?" Keigo yelled)

The group who included Ichigo, Hiyori, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Mizuiro, oh and Keigo too, I guess..("Cut that out!") all were at the park and were eating take out from a nearby old fashioned Ramen house.

"Hey, I'm going to take a piss, Ichigo" Hiyori suddenly called out, in her usual unladylike fashion. "I'll be back…and if I find out that idiot Keigo took any of my food, .. Ill ring his neck!"

After Hiyori was done using the bathroom, and was washing her hands she felt herself pulled inside her inner world without any reason or warning. She turned and saw her normally upbeat, and flirtatious Zanpaktou, Kubikiri Orochi standing there staring up into the sky.

"Kubikiri Orochi?…what the fuck!?" Hiyori yelled out in irritation. "What's the big idea of pulling me in here for!?"

"Did you hear a voice…." Kubikiri asked, not looking at her wielder. "It was very faint… and I couldn't tell what is was saying...but I'm sure I heard it…did you?"

"A voice?...what the hell are you talking about?" Hiyori asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "The only voices I hear are yours and mine…"

"Oh… ok.. Then I guess you better get back to drooling over Ichigo while you eat" Kubikiri said, trying to joke despite her strange uneasiness.

Hiyori pulled down the lower part of her eye lid and stuck out her tongue at her ,before returning to the regular world. She then finished washing her hands and rejoined the others, though in the back of her mind she was thinking about the strange behavior of her Zanpaktou. After hanging out for a while more, most of them went their separate ways , except for Ichigo, Hiyori, Chad, and Uryu who were all walking home. Orihime had gone off with Tatsuki, while Keigo and Mizuiro had both gone home. They were nearing the water canal, just down from where Ichigo lost his mom, when a Senkaimon suddenly appeared, startling everyone. Rukia Kuchiki came out of it at a quick speed hitting the grass painfully and rolling a few feet to stop with a groan.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled out, quickly swallowing a Gikongan and flash-stepping in Soul Reaper form to Rukia's side, while Hiyori transformed into Soul Reaper form as well. "Rukia.. What happened?!"

"She got careless… Ichigo" said a calm female voice from inside the Senkaimon. "That said, it's good to see you again"

"What?...who are you, and what did you do to Rukia?!" Ichigo yelled out. "Wait…what do you mean see me again? I've never seen you before in my life"

"I suppose in a way that's true… you only saw me in my other form…." Said a pale women in a Kimono. "My name is Sode no Shirayuki.. And I was Rukia Kuchiki's Zanpaktou…"

"Your.. Rukia's Zanpaktou?….how.. How is that possible?" Ichigo asked in a tone of disbelief. "And that still doesn't explain how you know me"

"You can be quite hard headed some times… no wonder Hiyori has to always beat you silly…" Sode no Shirayuki said, shaking her head. "You wielded me for the time you had Rukia's Soul Reaper powers…although my shape was different because of your intense spiritual pressure, it was still me"

"That…that was you?… I ..it doesn't mater.. You hurt Rukia, didn't you?!" Ichigo said, pulling his Zanpaktou off his back and letting the protective cloth fall away. "So your gonna pay, got it lady?"

"I'd rather not hurt you…despite the fact that you hurt my feelings by ignoring me when I called your name during the time you used me…" She replied back, holding out her hand and letting a Zanpaktou of her sword form materialize. "That said, I came here to kill Rukia.. So if you stand in my way, I will have no choice but to try and slay you as well… Second dance! Tsugi no Mai…Hakuren!"

Ichigo saw the wave of ice that shot towards him and Rukia, so he picked up Rukia and flash-stepped away and over by the others, who were all in battle ready stances.

"Ichigo, I will hold her off.. I suggest going to Urahara's shop for the time being…" Uryu said, activating his bow. "Lets see how she holds up to the power of a Quincy"

"I… fine. Follow as quickly as you can though" Ichigo said, as he, his Gikongan controlled body, along with Hiyori and Chad, ran from the area.

"Ichigo.. Rukia needs medical attention…" Chad said, as they ran down the street. "You should go on ahead…me and Hiyori can catch up"

"Right" Ichigo said, nodding before flash-stepping away from sight.

"You think four eyes will be ok?" Hiyori asked as she, Chad, and Ichigo's body ran towards Urahara's shop.

"More then likely….." Chad said, calmly. " He only has to buy a few minutes for us anyways"

Ichigo arrived at Urahara's shop in a matter of minutes, using his fastest flash-step he could muster, only to find Urahara himself holding the door open.

"I would ask how you knew I'd end up here, but at this point I'm getting use to your strangeness" Ichigo said, carrying a unconscious Rukia inside to a empty room on a soft mat. "Can Tessai heal her?"

"No need, Ichigo" A female voice said, from behind him. "Never fear, Orihime is here! I'll have her fixed up in no time"

"Orihime?.. What are you doing here? I though you went home with Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked, as she activated her healing shield around Rukia.

"I just got home when I sensed Rukia's spiritual pressure.. And that it was dimming slightly" Orihime said, as she concentrated on healing Rukia. "That's when I saw Mr. Urahara and he told me he felt the same thing. He said It was best to come back here and wait in case Rukia was brought here by you"

"Right… I need to get back and help Uryu.. He said he'd buy time , but I'm sure that his stupid Quincy honor crap is going to get him injured" Ichigo said, heading out side. "Urahara? Chad and Hiyori should be here in a few minutes.. Tell them BOTH to stay here, and I'll be back with four eyes ASAP"

"Sure" Urahara said, simply, with a nod of his hat covered head. "But be careful out there, whomever your fighting "

Ichigo gave a nod in return and flash-stepped out of sight. He soon arrived to find Uryu with one shoulder frozen with ice. He broke off the ice painfully, and turned toward Ichigo.

"What the hell? I said buy us time…did your stupid Quincy honor bullshit make you stay and fight?" Ichigo yelled at him, making their female opponent grin at them.

"Quincy honor is not something to make light of , Ichigo Kurosaki" Uryu said, narrowing is eyes. "Besides, this women is making it difficult for me to leave at the moment"

"…whatever, just quit your whining Uryu … alright there, ice girl…. I'm putting an end to this" Ichigo said, pulling Zangetsu off of his back and holding it upward facing the sky as the cloth the covered it fell away. The black glowed with intense white and blue energy before his swung the sword downward facing towards Sode no Shirayuki. "Getsuga Tensho!

Ichigo's sword shot out a blinding beam of energy that tore through the street, making the wide-eyed Sode no Shirayuki flash-stepped to the side to avoid it's wrath.

"My, my….you certainly have gotten stronger… when you wielded me, all you could do was flail around your spiritual pressure" She said to him with a small smile. "Let's see how you like my powers… third dance,…San no Mai Shirafune"

Sode no Shirayuki raised her sword and pierced it in a forward motion making ice spread out rapidly in a wide area. Uryu used his Quincy equivalent of flash-step to avoid the attack, while Ichigo blocked it with both the wide blade of his sword and his intense spiritual pressure.

"You keep claiming to Rukia's Zanpaktou…but how is that possible?" Ichigo asked after her ice attack ended. "How can a Zanpaktou take human form outside of the wielder like this?"

"That is not important at the moment…" She responds, swinging her sword at him only to have it block by his own.

"Fine, don't answer… but if you don't leave now… I will kill you" Ichigo said , his eyes glowing bluish white. "So what are you going to do? Leave ..or die?"

_Is it arrogance?...no… it's fact to him… he is very powerful.. _Sode no Shirayuki thought staring at him. _While I might defeat him in a battle, there's no guarantee, and I would be useless to Muramasa's plans…_

"…very well… I'm not fool… and I very well recognize superior power" She said, lowering her sword before letting it dematerialize. "I will leave for now…but know this, Ichigo Kurosaki … I will kill Rukia Kuchiki…eventually"

"Just leave….now" Ichigo said, gritting his teeth. "And no that every time you appear to hurt my friend, I will be there to stop you"

"As you wish…one more thing though…" Sode no Shirayuki said, opening a Senkaimon. "I was with you for a short time… but even in that time, you showed far more potential then Rukia ever has… if you should decide… I wouldn't mind being your second Zanpaktou, along side your current one. What is it's name anyways?"

"….Zangetsu…" Ichigo replied, still holding his sword in a defensive position. "Why?"

"Zangetsu…slaying moon… a sword with the power to slay the moon itself…how appropriate for someone as powerful as you" She replied back, smiling as she walked into the Senkaimon . " I hope to see you again soon… farewell to you as well Quincy boy.. You were most amusing"

Not knowing what else to do ,they headed back to Urahara's shop, at a normal pace, since here wasn't any danger for the moment. Meanwhile, Rukia regained conscience as Orihime was healing her injuries at Urahara's shop.

"Ori…Orihime?…where.. Where am I?…" Rukia said struggling to sit up.

"Please lay still I'll be finished with healing you in just a moment" Orihime said, finishing up, and releasing the shield, letting her powers return to hairpin form. "Ok, I'm all done, but you should still be careful and not move around too much.."

"Right...thank you for healing me, Orihime.. I…Ichigo!… I thought I saw Ichigo before I passed out…where is he?" Rukia asked in a panic.

"He's fine...or else he better be , that dumbass" Said a frowning Hiyori, that was standing in the doorway of the room where Rukia was laying in. "He went off to help Uryu fight that women that was chasing you… his spiritual pressure did flare up, but now it's normal, meaning he's fine and is on his way here with 4 eyes"

Ichigo and a slightly injured Uryu arrived at the shop a short time later ,where Orihime proceeded to treat him.

"Rukia…I'm glad to see your ok…. But I ..we got to know about that women who attacked you…" Ichigo said, after they were all seated on the floor of Rukia's temporary room, with Hiyori on Ichigo's lap. "She said she was your Zanpaktou..and I gotta admit, after what she told me.. I believed her...question is.. How?"

"It's…it's a long story, Ichigo…" Rukia said, taking a deep breath and retelling the events of what had transpired in the Soul Society up to the spirits of the Zanpaktou manifesting and walking next to the man called Muramasa. "..and then Muramasa thrust a sword into the ground of the hill, sending energy into it that broke it up even worse the when you and my brother fought there"

"That's…that's insane!" Uryu said, eyes wide. "But I take it that's not all that happened"

"There's more?" Ichigo said looking form Uryu back to Rukia. "What else happened?"

"The spirits of our Zanpaktou begin fighting with us… and me and Renji faced off against Gonryomaru, the Zanpaktou of the Lieutenant of Squad 1, and Kazeshini, the Zanpaktou of the Lieutenant of Squad 9, ….both of them were powerful land deadly…" Rukia said, looking down about it. " I was no match for Gonryomaru and was easily defeated…fortunately, Byakuya, subdued him for me. Just after that, his own Zanpaktou, Senbonzakura attacked him...I thought he might win but… but he used his power to threw my brother into a building..that's when Sode no Shiriyuki appeared.."

As she spoke the Battle between Byakuya Kuchiki and Senbonzakura was continuing in the Soul Society. The Zanpaktou manifested his own sword and it clashed with Byakuya's, sending sparks flying each time his sword met Byakuya's.

"You have no way to defeat me, fool…"Senbonzakura said, sneering under his helmeted face. "Now scatter…"

Byakuya's eyes widened slightly and he used flash-step to evade the swarm of blades resembling cherry blossom petals. He did his best to stay ahead of the swarms that continuously shot out at him every time he landed. The blades make small cuts on Byakuya's face and shoulders as he ran.

"It seems running is all your capable of…which disappoints me… no wonder we lost to the Substitute Soul Reaper when you battled him on Sokyoku Hill" Senbonzakura said, trying to instigate him.

"Who said I was running?.. I was merely leading us to a less populated area, before defeating you" Byakuya said, coming to a stop and turning him to face him calmly. "Now then… I'll ignore your comment on my battle with Ichigo Kurosaki, in favor of defeating you for your arrogance and betrayal"

"Now who's the arrogant one?" Senbonzakura asked, sending large stream of tiny cherry blossom like blades at him.

"You will never learn… that you are beneath my level" Byakuya said , closing his eyes as the large stream of blade neared him. " Jugeki Byakurai"

Senbonzakura saw a beam of red energy fire at him from Byakuya's fingertips at high speed and he pulled the wave of blades back to shield himself in the front. He thought was safe, that's when mere seconds later he heard words spoken from behind him and finger tips pressed against his shoulder.

"Hado 4, Byakurai"

Senbonzakura yelled out in pain as a large beam of bluish energy tore through his shoulder, making him fall to his knees.

"How ..how did you?…" He said, holding his shoulder. "How could you defeat me… when you could not win against the substitute Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"As I told you, you are beneath my level" Byakuya said hold the tip of his blade less then a inch from Senbonzakua's face. "My battle against Ichigo was a unique one… his reason for winnning was due to unwavering resolve to save Rukia…. Where as my victory was due to my commitment to protect the Soul Society from my own Zanpaktou"

"I..I see…then… I have lost..master" Senbonzakura said, bowing to him while kneeling. "What.. What happens now?"

"Now?..now you will explains your actions that you have taken against me and the Soul Soceity" Byakuya replied, sliding his Zanpaktou back into it's sheath. "Perhapes if you give good answers, I will be lenient in your punishement"

"Yes, of course.." He said to Byakuya looking up at him. "I will tell you every thing, master".. it all started with a voice in my head telling me to give in to my inhibitions …"

Back in the world of the living some time later…. And after a while of waiting , Yoruichi Shihoin arrived at Urahara's shop where the others are still at.

"Yoruichi, good of you to finally return…" Urahara said as she walked into the room with himself, Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Chad, Orihime, Uryu and Tessai.

"Yoruichi?… Urahara said we should wait here for news from someone.. But the bastard wouldn't elaborate…" Ichigo said, glaring at a grinning Kisuke. "I take it, it was you we've been waiting for…"

"Yes, that's correct Ichigo… and I just returned from the Soul Society" She said, plopping down on the floor and sitting Indian style. "I bet your all eager to hear what I found apon traveling there"

"Yoruichi, my brother Byakua… do you know if he's ok?… there was a large explosion on the building he starting fight Senbonzakura on top off… I didn't get to stay there because of Sode no Shirayuki though.."

"I managed to find out about the location of most of the captains with a few exceptions.." Yoruichi said, somewhat saddly. " The head Captain is still missing.. as is Captain Kuchiki im afraid"

"I…I see…" Rukai said lowering her head.

"In any case.. There's more to discuss then just that…" Yoruichi said, sighing. " Captain's Ukitake and Kyoraku have temporaily taking over as co-head captains to deal with this crisis.. and need all of the Cpatain's.. or as many as we've found to meet up at Squad 1 barracks t figure out a plan of action.. Most of the squads are in chaos though even if they have a Captain… and those without are far worse. As it stands, Squad's 6, 1,10,3, and 11 are without Captains at the moment…"

"Squad 11? But isn't that the squad of that nut job Zarakai?" Ichigo asked rasing one eyebrow. "How the heck did he get lost?"

"Not lost.. Just not there at the moment.. According to 3rd seat member Ikkaku Maderame, Captain Zaraki refused to come back till he had some fun fighting the Zanpaktou.." Se replied shaking her head in disbelief. "In any case…Ichigo, Hiyori?… I need you to return with me to the Soul Society to keeps things in order for your squad, and to have a captain's meeting to discuss what to do as I said before"

"When do we leave, Yoruichi?" Rukia asked, eagerly.

"**You** will not be going anywhere's till your healed all the way" Yoruichi replied to her, standing up. "Chad, Orihime, Uryu?.. You three however, may join us if you wish, as long as you know the dangers that await"

"Wait.. What do you mean I can't come with you?" Rukia said leaning across the table. "My brother is missing! You can't expect me to-"

"I expect to you follow the orders I'm passing along to you from your superior, Captain Ukitake" She replied back sternly , crossing her arms." If you wont stay willingly, then I'll simply put you to sleep with a high level Kido…is that what I must do?"

"I… no ma'am…" Rukia said defeated. "I'll stay…"

"Good… please realize these orders are for your safety, Rukia" Yoruichi said, signaling Urahara to following her. "Everyone else?.. We'll depart in a few minutes… but right now, Kisuke? I have orders for you as well. They need you to set up a video monitor as a link between here and the Seireite in order to keep you updated on the situation"

Her voice trailed off as she and Urahara left the room, leaving the others alone.

"Don't worry Rukia.. Your brother may be stuck up at times, but he's strong enough to survive… I know from personal experience that he'll be fine and back in no time to calmly disscuss his victory against his Zanpaktou" Ichigo said, giving her a small encouraging smile.

"Yeah.. I know that , Ichigo…thanks" Rukaisaid ,with a small smile in return.

"Ok, people lets head to the basment and open the Reshi Henkan-ki and get going" Yoruichi said, returning with Urahara a few minutes later.

"Just a second.. I had a thought.. Were without several Captains and the Zanpaktou spirits are dangerous right?" Ichigo asked, getting a nod from Yoruichi before continuing. "Why Don't we asked the other Vizords to come back with us to bolster our forces?.. They were all Lieutenants and Captaions before right?"

"Indeed we were Ichigo, Though I hope thinking didn't hurt too much" Shinji said, appearing in the doorway and grinning at a scowling Ichigo. "Long time no see, Hiyori, Yoruichi, Kisuke.."

"I thought I smelled faint traces of your spiritual pressure….or maybe you just need ashower?" Hiyori said, with a evil grin "How long have you been here for?"

"Long enough to hear the situation, and inform the Vizards that we should help out" Shinji replied, with a creepy grin of his own. "They should be here any minute.. Assuming Mashiro behaves long enough…"

"Kensei!…. Why do I have to go?! I wanna sleep!"

"Shut your mouth Mashiro, you annoying little brat, or I'll put you to sleep, permanently!"

"Looks like there here already" Yoruichi said, laughing. "Or sounds like in this case"

"Yeah yeah,.. Come on in and lets get to the basement training area already!" Shinji yelled, leaning out of the doorway to the other Vizords. "Just drag Mashiro if you have to, Kensei!.. Or tell her Ichigo is here, maybe that will motivate her"

"Berry boy's here?" Mashiro said, appearing at the doorway in a head lock by Kensei. "Hey Berry Boy! Look at the fancy captain's Haori you got on. Makes you look hot!.. Hotter then usual I mean"

"Kensei slamed his fist onto the top of Mashiro's head, amiknig her whine in pain about what ahorrible captain he was, and tried to escape his grasp, while Ichigo held back Hiyori from attacking Mashiro for hitting on Ichigo.

"As amusing as this is.. We need to get going , so move out!" Yoruichi said, opening the entrence to the training area in the basement. "I said move!"

The rather large group, including Rukia who wanted to see them off, gathered in the basment where Urahara explained about how he had a special one installed thanks to the Soul Society in case of emergency and then opened it telling them to run as soon as they get inside.

Rukia was considering running for it when all of asudden she felt dizzy and collapsed int othe arms of Urahara. Ichigo asked what he just did to her , though Yoruichi said it was something she asked him to do before hand and not to worry about her. Though not entrily agreeing with the situation, he and the rest of the group ran inside the special Senkaimon and ran like hell.

"Please take her back to her room to sleep, Tessai" Urahara said, handing her to his friend.

He thought back to his conversation with Yoruichi as he waited for the gate to close ,signifying his friends had made it safely to the other side..

"_Kisuke.. There one more order I have for you from Jushiro" Yoruichi said, as she stood there with him._

"_What is it?" He asked in a serious tone, as he adjusted his hat._

"_As soon as the Senkaimon is open, I need you to knock out Rukia with a Kido spell on her that will keep her asleep for several days" Yoruichi said, looking out the nearby window._

"_I see.. Then I shall do as you ask" He replied back, sighing. "You really think this is necessary?"_

"_Probably… Captain Ukitake is worried about Rukia, and wants her safe…" Yoruichi said, walking to the sliding doors. "He already lost his Lieutenant,… the last thing he want to do is loose another squad member"_

"_I understand.. Believe me… it's just the same as it was 100 years ago when I almost lost Hiyori…" Urahara said, sadly. "I'll keep her safe… you have my word, and so does Jushiro_"

"_Right…. Now then lets get back to the others…"_

The Senkaimon finally closed a few minutes later and Urahara breathed a sigh of relief as he took off his hat and stared up at the fake sky painted inside the training area.

"Good luck my friends…" Urahara said, with a smile. "Good luck and be safe"

End of Chapter 41

To be continued..

Sorry about the long ass wait, everyone. Seemed like every time I sat down to type out some words I ended up getting interrupted and had to post pone it .. I'll try to not let that happen again. I'll hopefully see everyone with a new chapter a hell of a lot sooner next time.. Nope you like it, so please read and enjoy. And tell me what you think… Bye for now


	43. Chapter 43

I haven't stated this in a long time, but "Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series ,by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Also, I think I replied to all though who sent my review/ questions/comments personally… so with out any more waiting, here's the next chapter

Chapter 42

After running like a bat out of hell, the Vizards, Including Ichigo and Hiyori who were technically members, Yoruichi, Chad, and Orihime all arrived in the now damaged area of the Rukon district. All of the current and former Soul Reapers landed in the air above the Rukon area, while Orihime used a shield for her and Chad to stand on.

Ichigo was about to suggest the get moving when he looked over at his fellow Vizards and noticed that with the exception of Hiyori, they all had become noticeably tense. Ichigo knew they hadn't stepped foot inside the Soul Society in a long time, but still…

"Hey, Hiyori.. Why do the others seem so…tense?" Ichigo whispered to his petite girlfriend. "I know this is where they became Vizards...but…"

"That's… that's not something that easy to discuss, Ichigo… this place brings up a lot of pain for them…and even for me.." Hiyori said, reaching up and interlocking her fingers with his. "I've gotten more or less use to it again, though even I still get tense at times here,.. If not for you being with me,.. I wouldn't be very comfortable here "

"I see… in any case, maybe we can talk about it after the Captains meeting.. If that's ok" Ichigo said, looking down at Hiyori.

"Sure…after we meet up with the others… though that is going to be a tense situation we're walking into… the Captain's meeting I mean" Hiyori said, with a nod. "Putting it off will only make it worse though… so get your asses moving ,morons!"

"What?…oh right" Shinji said, frowning. "She's right… the longer we delay our reunion with the other Soul Reapers, the harder it will be.. And we did agree to help our members Ichigo and Hiyori here, right?"

"Yeah.. I guess your right" Love Aikawa said, adjusting the strap of his Zanpaktou that hung on his back. "Lead the way Ichigo"

Ichigo nodded and the group headed to the ground in front of the open gates of the Seireitei where Captain Ukitake and several rank-less Soul Reapers stood waiting for them. As the groups landed in front of him, his eyes widened a bit as he recognized the members of the Vizard as former Captains and Lieutenants that he had once served with.

"I..I must admit I did not actually expect to see you all again…this is a even bigger shock then seeing Hiyori return here.." Ukitake said, before smiling. "Still.. While it is good to see you all again…. May I ask why you are here at the moment?.. We didn't receive word that you would be arriving along side Ichigo , Hiyori and Yoruichi"

"I apologize for not relaying this information before, but I had no idea that they would be asked to assist us.. Or that they'd actually agree to come back here" Yoruichi said, hands on hips. "But there here now and are here to help the Soul Society in this time of crisis"

"Actually, there are some things we need to clear up as soon as we see the other Captains for this meeting, about our purpose here" Shinji said, looking uncomfortably to one side. "So lets get going ok?"

Though slightly confused, Captain Ukitake agreed and led the group to the squad 1 barracks to meet with the other Captains that were accounted for at that time. Captain's Unohana, Kyoraku, Soifon, a slightly injured Komamura, Kurotsuchi were all seating around a large table waiting for them when they arrived.

"Lisa!" Captain Kyoraku said, eyes wide. "your…alive!"

"Hey, Captain Kyoraku…long time no see" Lisa replied, in a slightly nervous manner that kept her from making eye contact. "Good to see your still around as well"

"It is good to see all of you again" Captain Unohana said, with a kind smile on her face. "I welcome you back after so long"

"Before we begin this little meeting we need to make things perfectly clear to you people" Shinji said, crossing his arms. "Were not your allies.. And were not here for any of you…"

"Then why did you come here in the first place" Soifon asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"We came here for Berry boy and Hiyori!" Mashiro said, grinning as she poked her head out from behind Kensei where she had been hiding herself.

"That's correct Mashiro...where here for two of our members, Ichigo and Hiyori… but we could care less about the rest of you Soul Reapers" Shinji said, looking around at the assembled Captains. "We don't like being here again, it makes our skin crawl.. And if Ichigo and Hiyori didn't need our help, then we wouldn't have come back here right now"

"I…I see.. Thank you for your honesty Shinji" Ukitake said, sitting down. "Now, if everyone can be seated, we can begin this meeting.. Yoruichi?"

"Right…ok then first off, as we're aware, we're missing several Captains and Lieutenants…which has left those squads in panic…we need to remedy this situation ASAP" Yoruichi said, with a serious expression on her face. "As such I'd like to suggest that since the Vizards here were all former Captains and Lieutenants here ,that they temporarily take over the empty positions till the really Captains and Lieutenants are found"

"Lady Yoruichi, I'm sorry, but I must protest!" Soifon said, speaking up. "Having Hiyori Sarugaki rejoin as a Lieutenant again is reasonable giving how she was among those considered heroes by the head captain.. And that Ichigo.. I mean Captain Kurosaki chose her as his Lieutenant… but to allow those that were long.. Even if unjustly, considered enemies with kill on sight orders into potions of power here is unacceptable"

"Soifon! How can you say that crap!.. I'm more Vizard then Soul Reaper ..should I be taken out my Captain seat as well?!" Ichigo yelled, surprisingly being held back by Hiyori of all people. "Well?!"

"It's not like that Ichigo...I don't have anything against them personally… and Hiyori... Is what one could consider a friend.." Soifon said, blushing from embarrassment slightly. "It's just we know nothing about them.. And to let them join here … the incident that made them who they are was only a hundred years ago…it's fresh in the minds of a lot of Soul Reapers here…what if there are problems with Soul Reapers to wanting to work with them because of prejudice? It will only make an already difficult situation even more tense"

"If any of the Soul Reapers in the squads we take over have a problem then they can leave.. No big deal" Shinji said, scowling. "Let's just get this over with ok?"

"Wait … I just had a thought.. All of you Vizards have Zanpaktou… Won't Muramasa just take them like he has ours?" Captain Kyoraku asked, lifting his wide brim hat up.

"Don't worry about that Shunsui, not only are our Zanpaktou bonded to our souls like other Soul Reapers, they're also bonded to our inner hollows… so the bond with us is double the strength of regular Soul Reapers" Kensei said, as he tried to make Mashiro sit still. "It might not be impossible for this guy to take the spirits of our Zanpaktou, but it sure as hell will be more trouble then it's worth"

"Well that is good news to hear.. Especially since Ichigo and Hiyori are included in that statement of yours" Captain Ukitake said, with a light smile.

"Shall we continue this then?…since we do have other things to deal with like old man Yama missing right now" Kyoraku said, looking around.

"Indeed.. Now then who should take over which squad?" Yoruichi said, thinking out loud. "Any ideas, anyone?"

"I'll take over squad 8 while Captain Kyoraku is here, since I was it's Lieutenant before" Liza said, looking up from a swimsuit magazine she had been reading.

"That's fine with me" Kyoraku said, grinning. "If there's anyone I trust more then my little Nanao, it's my little Lisa"

"Call me your little Lisa again and you'll be missing two very important thing's in your life" Liza said, glaring at him. "And I don't mean your swords"

"So cruel…" Kyoraku said with fake anime tears.

"I'll take squad 3... As the former captain of squad 3, it will be good to see my old barracks again" Rose said, running a hand through his hair. "I do wonder though… I kept my favorite guitar hidden away in a secret compartment that no one knew off.. I wonder if it's still there?"

"In that case, I'll take squad 9.. Also because of me formerly leading that division" Kensei said, playing with his Zanpaktou's handle. "And I'll have to drag Mashiro with me to keep her out of trouble"

"The Lieutenant of Squad 9, Shuhei Hisagi is actually there at the moment.." Ukitake said, rubbing his chin. "Though I'm certain he'll be grateful to see the one who inspired him to become a Soul Reaper a in the first place"

"I guess I'll take one of the left over squads...which ones are left?" Love asked, as he looked through his Shonen Jump manga magazine.

"As it stands Squads 10 and 11 are temporarily captainless…" Yoruichi said, crossing her arms under her considerable sized chest. "However, my impression is that Captain Zaraki often lets Squad 11 be run by his 3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame and his 5th seat Yumichika Ayasegawa most of the time...it's squad 10 that need your attention Love"

"That's fine.. As long as someone shows me where the Squad 10 barracks are.." Love said, looking up at the others. "There was no Squad 10 Captain when I we were here before.. Oh what about squad 6?"

"Renji Abarai is currently taking charge of Squad 6 so that taking care of …" Ukitake said, with a small smile. "Now that we have temporary Captains.. We need to deal with finding more of the wounded, searching for our lost Captain's and Lieutenants, finding the Head Captain and of course most importantly, finding a way to defeat Muramasa so we can return control of our Zanpaktou to us"

"One step at a time Jushiro…" Ichigo said, in a serious tone. "First the other Vizards need to get to the squads their taking over for now…then we can get search parties ready to look for Captains, Lieutenants, and the old man. We can also then start working to the Zanpaktou Rebellion.. "

"My my…looks who taking the infinitive…" Yoruichi said, laughing. "He's right though"

"I agree.. In fact.. Ichigo… I want you, your Lieutenant and the rest Squad 5 to take charge of organizing this thing…Make sure everything go's smoothly here in this dangerous situation we'll all meet up in say..3 hours"

"Uh.. .that is...that's ok.. I'm sure someone else is more capable then me" Ichigo said, backing up waving his hands in front of him. "Besides.. Me and Hiyori need to uh do… Something?"

"I still need someone to show me where squad 10 is, yo!" Love said, sitting back.

"I can ..probably…. Show you" Said a injured Rangiku as she stumbled into the area, holding a bleeding shoulder. "After I rest….."

She teetered and collapsed forward, with Ichigo, who was the closest, grabbed her and held her up.

"Rangiku! What happened!?" Ichigo asked with wide eyes as he laid her down on some cushions that Captain Unohana was laying down on the floor.

"I got …separated from…. From my captain, in the confusion of the attacks" Rangiku said, cringing slightly as Unohana gave a her a check out to assess her injuries. "I only woke up about…10 minutes ago and made my way here…. I was a unconscious and don't remember much… just feeling intense cold… and that wasn't from my Captain's sword"

"Explanations can wait Lieutenant, as your injuries are more serious then they appear" Unohana said, looking at the group. "Miss Inoue, since squad 4 barracks are quite a ways away from here and there a is large number of injured already occupying the medical area, would be so kind as to heal Lieutenant Matsumoto here?"

"Right!"

"Well then.. Our guests should get to their squads…Ichigo, would you be so kind as to introduce them and relay the inform of them temporarily taking over?" Kyoraku asked, standing up. "Uryu, Chad?.. You two can join us in either the search parties or fighting the enemy you may also stay where ever you wish for the time being….. And as soon as miss Inoue is done healing the Lieutenant, she and Hachigen can go with Captain Unohana to assist in healing at the squad 4 barracks"

The two healers nodded and Hachigen relayed that he would accompany Orihime to the squad 4 barracks and that Captain Unohana could go on ahead without them.

"So… Shinji.. How's it been going?" Ichigo asked, as the Vizards walked off to the closest Barracks., which happened to be Squad 1, where they we're dropping off Love Aikawa at.

"Eh… you know the same I guess… how's things been here?" Shinji asked, looking not particularly interested. "You and Hiyori causing trouble?"

"Trouble is this idiot's middle name" Hiyori said walking beside Ichigo on his right.

"Is that so?…" Ichigo asked, smirking and narrowing his eyes. "Then your middle name must be shorty"

She grinned as she punch Ichigo in his leg, making him jump and smack her in the back of her head in return.

"I see you two are as close as ever" Shinji said, scowling. "Just make you take care of the brat, Ichigo. After being in proximity to her for way over a hundred years.. She can cause a lot of trouble in just a blink of an eye"

"Asshole" Hiyori said, stopping till he got far enough ahead to run up and drop kick him in his back, sending Shinji flying into a wall. "Bullz-eye!"

"You never change, Hiyori" Love said as he walked over to the entrance to the Squad 10 barrack with the official paper work to be recognized as Squad 10 Captain. "I'll see you later. I can handle this on my own, you guys.."

After dropping off the rest of the Vizards it was just Chad, Hiyori and Ichigo left on their own. Chad soon said he was going to go look for a place to stay for the time being and maybe get some training in until they all went to go begin searching for lost members and fighting the enemy. That left just Ichigo and Hiyori to walk along the street of the Seireitei towards the squad 5 barracks.

"So…what should we do when we get back to the Barracks?" Hiyori asked ,looking up at her taller boyfriend/captain.

_So there still following us.. Or is me?… can't tell… _Ichigo thought to himself, ignoring Hiyori in the process.

"Hey...hey are you listening to me?!" Hiyori yelled getting right up nest to Ichigo's face till their noses were touching.

"What?.. Oh yeah sorry…" Ichigo finally said, looking at the tiny girl.

"You were staring off into space...what's up with you?" Hiyori asked tilting her head to one side.

"Oh nothing,.. Just thinking...that's all" Ichigo replied looking at the sky. "Why don't you go on ahead to the barracks and I'll meet you in a little bit, ok?"

"Huh?...why.. Why can't we go together?" Hiyori demanded , furrowing her eyebrows. "We have 3 hours to kill.. I was hoping we could…you know…spend time together.. Alone.."

"Um…I'll be back soon ok.. And then ..then we can do that?" Ichigo said, pulling the smaller girl into a hug. "You go on ahead and I'll be there soon and we spend time together , just the two of us, ok?"

"Um…ok sure… but you better get your ass back ASAP, got it!?" Hiyori said fiercely. "Now…n-now give me a ki-ki-kiss, strawberry"

"Since when do you stutter, snaggleto- oommmmf" Ichigo's sentence was cut off by Hiyori who, in one swift action, grabbed him by his face, and pushed her lips against his.

She then pulled away, both of them with red faces, but before she could do anything, Ichigo leaned in slowly and recaptured her lips, in a more gentle way then Hiyori had to him. He carefully reached forward and cup her small face as they kissed while Hiyori's arms wrapped themselves around Ichigo. After several more minutes they both pulled away to catch their breaths, and both of them had deep red yet smiling faces.

"I'll see you when you get back, Ichigo-kun" Hiyori said, uncharacteristically smiling still."Don't take long…"

After he was sure Hiyori was out of the area, Ichigo turned and flash-stepped to the nearby roof.

"You can come out now...whoever you are" Ichigo said, putting his hand around his Zanpaktou's handel.

"So...you knew I was following you…impressive" Said a deep voice. "..How long did you know I was following you for?"

"Come on out.. And maybe I'll tell you" Ichigo replied, narrowing his eyes and looking around.

"Very well… I suppose that's reasonable" Said the man as he walked out of the shadows. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ichigo Kurosaki.."

"So then, I'll tell you as promised , I've know you were following me since we left the others and it was just me, Hiyori and Chad" Ichigo said, pulling his Zanpaktou out and letting the cloth fall away. "Now that I've answered your question… answer mine, and tell me who you are"

"Very well, my name is Muramasa…" The man replied smiling wickedly."..and I've come for your Zanpaktou… to free it from you"

"Is that so?…. Well I'm afraid that I'm not going to be accommodate your wish.." Ichigo said, holding his sword in a defensive position. " Though I'd be glad to help you get your ass beat, so I can get back to my girlfriend!"

"So defensive… however. Your boisterous words mean nothing to me, Soul Reaper" Muramasa said, casually. "You can not hope to win this.. For this is a battle that is guaranteed victory in my favor"

"Wanna bet?" Ichigo yelled flash stepping at Muramasa with his Zanpaktou swinging down. "You will not win!"

"Won't I?… shall we see if your boosting has any merit?" Muramasa said, as a Zanpaktou materialized in his hand and he blocked Ichigo's blade.

"You…you have a Zanpaktou!? What are you?!" Ichigo demanded as he slid back on the ground. "You… Are you ..were you a Soul Reaper?!"

"A Soul Reaper?…please… I'm far stronger then a worthless Soul Reaper could ever be" Muramasa said with a grin. "Besides..you should be more worried about your friends"

"What?…what did you do to my friends?!" Ichigo bellowed, unleashing a Getsuga Tenshou at his opponent.

"Me?…I'm not doing anything to them..my friends on the other hand…well.. I can speak for them at he moment" Muramasa replied, flash-stepping at Ichigo and engaging in a series of strikes with his sword.

Ichigo coutered all of them, countering with his own sword, trying to get an advantage over Muramasa. He had to hurry, he didn't know which of his friends is in trouble, but he had to help them.

"I'm going to cut you down, and then save whichever of my friends is in trouble!" Ichigo yelled, powering up his Zanpaktou with black and red energy. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

"We shall see then…Ichigo Kurosaki… we shall see"

Meanwhile on the other side of the Seiretei, a familiar, short , black haired Soul Reaper walked out of a Senkiamon, and staggered slightly to a stop. This small soul Reaper took a deep breath and ran forward, determined to get to the squad 6 squad barracks, and hoped that Urahara wouldn't be able to inform her Captain about her return against his orders before she got there.

She wasn't at full stength so she had to simply run and not use flash step and just as reached the inside of the Serietei area, she felt intrense cold and rolled to oneside just in time to dodge a stream of ice that shot her way.

"So..you foolishly returned here, knowing I would kill you…?" A female voice said, from behind. "I told your friend I would kill you… and now, I will do just that, Rukia Kuchiki"

"Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia exclaimed, drawing out her sword. "Damn…. I was hoping to avoid you for a while"

"Sorry to inform you that your too weak to avoid me" Shirayuki said, with a small smile. "This will be your end"

"I don't wanna fight you!" Rukia yelled, pulling out her sealed Zanpaktou. "Why are you doing this?!"

Sode no Shirayuki remained silent as she jumped at Rukia sending a wave of ice at her. Rukia dodged to one side and only got a bit of ice on the sleeve of her uniform as the result.

"Guess I have no chioce but to fight…Dance Sode no Shirayuki!…" Rukia cried out, but her Zanpaktou remaind in sealed form anyways. "I didn't think that would work..but I had to try…"

"That is highly uesless since I no longer reside inside your sword.. Rukia kuchiki…besides.. Ichigo Kurosaki always weilded me better then you.." Shirayuki said, materializing Rukia's Zanpaktou in her hand. "In any case, until now, I had no control over when you used my powers in battle"

"What do you mean?…" Rukia questioned. " I always though it's power was mine? Since you were born from my soul…"

"Such arrogance…" Shirayuki said, glaring at Rukia " Some no Mai , Tsukishiro"

Rukia eyes went wide as she recognizes the attack, and quick mustered her strength to jump to a nearby roof to avoid it. A huge pillar of ice quickly formed in the space Rukia had been occupying moments before.

"Do you see, Rukia?,.. I just used the first dance… Tsukishiro ..and I also know how it works…" Shiriyuki said, with an emotionless face. "Using your sword, you draw a circle…anything within that space freezes… but it's not only on the ground, it's anything in the ground below or the sky above. Anything caught within it's pillar of ice is then killed when the pillar shatters, but only if the target is within the pillar"

"This is…damn!" Rukai spit out ,as she ran across the rooftop. "She really does have my powers...or rather, _her_ powers.."

"You seem under the misinformed impression that I will allow you to leave…" Shirayuki said, shaking her head in annoyence. "How about this one?…it's your favorite technique of mine you use to steal from me and use for yourself…, Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren"

Oh shit!…. Rukia sadi in her mind, recognizing the technique and the damage it was capable of. _There's no way I'll be able to dodge that!…and if I do… how much longer can I keep running?! _

"Play.. Kinshara"

Rukia's eyes went wide as she was grabbed and dropped onto another roof by some one who moved to fast to see who it was. She then saw a long golden whip smash through the ice and nearly hit Shirayuki, who saw it and moved out of the way at the last minute. A tall man in black suit with long wavy blond hair appeared holding the grip of a Zanpaktou that wasatttactched to the long golden whip that had attacked Shirayuki.

"You Soul Reapers these days….you've gotten so use to believing only what you see right before your eyes..and nothing more…" The man said, in a laid back tone. "Though giving the extraordinary circumstances of the particular situation ..I suppose one can look past it for the moment"

"Who are you?...a Soul Reaper? A human?" Shirayuki asked, wondering the same thing as Rukia. "…why are you here?'

"I suppose it was rather impudent of me to not give my name before I initiated attack..you have my apologies" The man said, with a small bow. "My name is Rojuro Otoribashi ..but most people call me Rose… as for my objective for being here…I am Vizard.. .And I am here, to kill you …that is all you really need to know at this moment"

"A Vizard?.. I am not familiar with that term…are you an ally of the Soul Reapers?" Shirayuki asked, rasing her sword. "If not, then why are you aiding this Soul Reaper?"

"I am not an ally of the Soul Reapers.. Or the Seireitei… or the Soul Soceity in general" Rose said, whipping his golden whip upwards. "I am an ally with one who resides the Seireitei however…and that's enough for me"

"I saw you…in Urahara's shop before…" Rukia said, from her place on the roof top. "Are you a friend of Kisuke?"

"Yes as a matter of fact, I am friend of his….but he's not the reason for me being here" Rose said, bringing his whip down at Shirayuki, forcing her to flash-step out of the way. "I am here to assist two fellow Vizards that reside here in the Seireitei"

"Really now? And just who are these two?" Shirayuki asked, not droppnig her guard.

"Only the foolish give out too much information…" Rose said simply, retracting his whip lie Zanpaktou. "It's time to continue our battle that we started however"

Not giving Shirayuki time to respond, Rose flash-stepped to her side and swung his Zanpaktou sideways, letting it extend to great lengths as it knocked Shiriyuki backwards into a wall behind her. Shirayuki emerged a minute later, looking very angry, and sporting small rips on her kimono.

"Juhaku" Shiriyuki said, rushing forward and stabbing her sword only inches from where Rose had been standing seconds before he flash-stepped out of the way. Ice flowed out of the sword tip freezing the entire wall it had pierced.

Rukia took the opportunity to assist Rose, and quickly said an incantaion quietly before firing a near point blank Shakkaho Hado spell at Shirayuki. Shirayuki put up a small layer of ice that blocked most of the impact of the Hado spell, and rased her hand at Rukia.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren"

Rukia's eyes went wide as tried to out run it, but she ran smack into Shirayuki's open hand , that grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the wall. Rukia cried out in pain and spit up a little blood in the process. She pulled Rukai back and prepared to slam her again, when Rose appeared and fired Hado 1 Sho to push Shirayuk iaway from Rukia. He then quickly shot a high level unnamed lightning kido at the Zanpaktou spirit, electrifying her and making her scream out in pain.

"I take no pleasure in striking a women..but as the enemy, I have no choice" Rose said, shaking his head. "Please forgive for what I've done and what I'll do"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do to you!" Shirayuki said, making her icy spiritual pressure rise. "Lets see if you can still when after I free you and behead you.. foolish Captain"

Meanwhile, Ichigo Kurosaki was only beginning his battle against Muramasa, the instigator of the Zanpaktou rebellion.

"You continue to surprise me with each clash of our swords, Ichigo Kurosaki" Muramasa said, with a grin did did not leave his face. "But over confidence, is not a noble trait to hold on to… nor is arrogance"

"I'll show you arrogance…. Take this,… Getsuga, Chi-doragon-sho!" Ichigo yelled out, unleashing the wave of energy shaped like a dragon and flew straight forward at Muramasa.

"Such power…incredible…you are the one I've been looking for" Muramasa said in a low voice out loud. "In any case, I have no time to play around with you..so let's put the ball in my court as it were.. home field advantage "

Before he could blink or make any sense of it, Ichigo was pulled into his inner world, where he found himself standing on a empty building.

"Here?…how did I?..get here?" Ichigo siad, still holding onto his Zanpaktou. "Zangetsu! Hollow! Where are you?!"

"Now so loud king, we're right here" Said the annoyed double voice of his inner hollow. "And so is the old man"

"Two inner beings?…how is this possible?" Muramasa inquired, as he appeared on the far edge of the same building . "Do you have two Zanpaktou spirits...or is something different?"

"?…who is this arrogant piss ant, that has stepped foot into our inner world where he does not belong?" the inner hollow asked narrowing his eyes. "How are inside here?….it shouldn't be possible"

"That is correct,… one who is not of this soul should be unable to enter Ichigo's inner world so easily" Zangetsu said, standing still, while balancing ontop of asword as he usually did. "Are you…a Zanpaktou?"

"What?..a Zanpaktou?…you're a…is that possible?" Ichigo asked, wide-eyed. "This…this whole thing is getting more and more confusing by the minute"

"How very astute… so are you Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpaktou?..or is the pale grinning fellow" Muramasa asked, ignoring Ichigo. "Or..are you both his Zanpakotu?"

"Don't be so foolish…do I look like a Zanpaktou to you?" the hollow asked ,laughing. " I simply am who I am…and that's all you need to know"

"I see..I matters not ..I simply have to kill you before I free the other one, Ichigo's Zanpaktou" Muramasa replied to him. "For my goal is free all Zanpaktou from their enslavement by the cruel hands of the Soul Reapers"

"I am afraid that in this instance you are the one who is mistaken…For am I am not Ichigo's slave..nor is he my master…" Zangetsu said, materializing a Zanpaktou in his hand as he dropped onto the building top beside Ichigo. "Ther three of us, though separate… are partners in this game called life..ripping me from Ichigo will not go smoothly for you at all"

"Oh really, partners you say?…" Muramasa asked, smiling. "Shall test that theory of yours?"

"Well not only test it, will prove it, you bastard!" Ichigo siad, his spritual pressure rising. "The three of us will cut you down, and prove our resolve!"

"Good… Show me your spirit, so when I kill you,… it wil be all the more enjoyable" Muramasas replied,taking a defensive stance. "Come at me..all three of you….so I can make this quick"

"You have too much confidence for your own good…" Inner hollow said, shaking his head in annoyance. "Guess we have to deal with that first, don't we partners?"

"Right!"

"Very well"

"I guess we'll soon see who is the over confident one" Muramasa said,dashing forward at the same time Ichigo and the hollow did. " By battle's end… all will be made clear ….to all of us on who's resolve and will is stronger"

End of Chapter 42

To be continued..

Hey please enjoy, review and ask any question or leave any comments you have. I'll answer all those with links to reply to and respond to the rest on the next chapter at the beginning


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 43

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series ,by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Most of the reviews/comments/questions have already been answered personally via the supplied link to that person's profile, however there were a few that didn't have a link so here you go…

_Guest Caboose: I loved it please post more as soon as possible _

I shall do my best Caboose.. Like with this chapter your (hopefully) reading right now.

_Guest (unnamed) : liked the chapter can't wait for the next._

Glad you like it and thank you for reading, unnamed guest, please read and enjoy this chapter as well.. and stay tuned for future chapters too.

If there were other guests that I missed I apologize for not answering you here, but I still thank you for reading, and I ask that you please continue to do so.

Oh and apparently it's Zanpakuto not Zanpaktou like I've believe for the past 8 years of watching/reading Bleach.. I'll put the correct spelling in chapters from now on.. And maybe once I someday finish the story, I'll go back and correct the spelling of the word in most of older chapters..

Now , on with the chapter…

_Last time, on Bleach_…. Ichigo, the Vizards, Yoruichi, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime returned to the Soul Society to assist in the issue with the spirits of the Zanpakuto's being released from their wielders and rebelling against them. The perpetrator of this event was the strange man name Muramasa, who during the beginning of his battle against Ichigo Kurosaki, was revealed to be a Zanpakuto himself.

Meanwhile, Rukia Kuchiki, managed to return to the Soul Society despite orders from Captain Ukitake to remain in the World of the living at Urahara's shop for a while. In doing so, she was confronted by the spirit of her own Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki and didn't fair well before being saved by Vizard member Rose. Rose then begin batting against the Zanpakuto spirit with fierce determination as Ichigo, his inner hollow and Zangetsu battled against Muramasa inside of Ichigo's inner world , where Ichigo had been pulled inside of… These two battles now rage on inside the walls of the Seireitei and both will be deadly…

Ichigo Kurosaki nodded wordlessly to Zangetsu and his inner hollow and both held their swords that were in Shikai form and slashed then downward.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

Two enormous waves of black and red energy as well as a wave of white and blue energy, raced towards Muramasa after being fired from the three partner's swords. Muramasa gritted his teeth and swung his sword, and wordlessly released a large wave of energy of his own at the giant attack cutting it's attack power down considerably and preventing his from taking the full force of the blast.

Though he managed to escape the full attack he was badly injured and had blood pouring down from the bloody opening where his left arm had been. His face also had blood running down it as revealed after the smoke cleared from the explosion. The full attack had apparently destroyed an entire block of the city that made of Ichigo's inner world, turning numerous buildings into ruble as well

"Um…will parts of the city inside here being damaged affect me in anyways?" Ichigo asked, somewhat concerned.

"Fear not, Ichigo… it will be returned to it's normal state after this situation is dealt with and will have no impact on either you or us" Zangetsu calmly stated, glancing at Ichigo.

"Lets focus on killing this creepy asshole Ichigo, Zangetsu…save the chit chat for later!" the inner hollow yelled over, grinning. "We severed one of his arms in the last attack...so how about we cut it off the other one off too next time!?"

"You three…. Are very irritating…." Muramasa said, narrowing his eyes. " This injury is nothing more then a minor inconvenience at best"

With looks of shock on their faces, ( or curiosity in Zangetsu's case) Muramasa instantly regenerated his severed arm and preceded to open and close his newly restored hand a few times.

"There…as good as new…and as for you three.." Muramasa said, pointing his hand in their direction. "Cero"

He fired a large red beam cero energy at high speed at Ichigo, Zangetsu and the inner hollow. Although Zangetsu and Ichigo flash-stepped out of the area to avoid it, the inner hollow laughed wildly, before grinning and pointing opening his mouth and generating a Cero even larger and denser then Muramasa's.

The two giant Ceros met in the middle and clashed pushing against each other until suddenly, there was a huge explosion making all of the people there use flash step to avoid it's shockwave of devastation.

"Not bad.. I certainly didn't expect you to be able to use such an attack…" Muramasa said, with parts of his jacket burned away. "An attack that belongs to a hollow…is that are you are by any change? A hollow?"

"Hehehehehehe..Hahahahaha..HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ichigo's inner hollow laughed out manically. "That's right, I'm a hollow! But you can just call me your executioner!"

"Then do you're your best, Hollow" Muramasa said, holding his sword out. "I will defeat you and then Ichigo's Zanpakuto will give in to his instincts"

"Don't worry, I won't disappoint!" the hollow said, as he raced at him using Sonido and moved around, striking at him so fast he appeared in multiple locations at once. "Come on, come on! Fight me! Make me feel alive!"

"Ichigo, use your mask, and join with your hollow in attacking Muramasa" Zangetsu said calmly, looking over at Ichigo. "Take him off guard, and give me an opening.. It is time to drive him out of this place where he does not belong"

"I can use my mask in here?" Ichigo asked gripping his sword tightly. "Is that possible?"

"This is your inner world, where many things are possible… it is possible, so do it and give me that opening" Zangetsu said, holding his sword up. "Remember what I told you before Ichigo… remember your resolve…. When you counter, don't let him cut you… when you protect someone, don't let them die… and when you attack…"

Ichigo's eyes glowed with spiritual energy and he formed his hollow mask with one brush of his hand in front of his face.

" ..you kill…..Don't worry, I remember… my resolve" Ichigo said, in his double voice, before he flash stepped out of sight and reappeared by Muramasa and his hollow. "Your not welcome in here, Muramasa… and we're kicking you out"

"Then make sure to keep up partner!" His hollow said, laughing before he and Ichigo attacked, moving around him at unreadable speeds as they did.

The two left numerous cuts and gashes on Muramasa, who was having trouble keeping up with the two of them, despite his abilities. Ichigo caught Zangetsu nod as he sung his sword and left a huge blood spraying gash across Muramasa's back. He quickly looked over at his hollow, giving him a silent signal, to get ready to move. He nodded and as Muramasa tried to fire off another energy wave, Ichigo and his hollow moved out of the way as fast as they could.

"Kuretsusen!" Zangetsu said ,and swung his sword sideways, sending an almost invisible wave of energy that resembled wind, shooting at Muramasa.

Muramasa tried to block it but was blown back into a building and suddenly Ichigo found himself back in the real world with Muramasa who was bent over and breathing hard.

"What the…what the hell was that?" Ichigo asked Zangetsu in his mind.

_That was a attack called Kuretsusen … worry about it later however…your opponent still stands _Zangetsu replied to him.

"Right…" Ichigo said, holding his sword in a defensive position in front of him.

"Damn…I'm out of time for now…we will have to finish this another time it appears.." Muramasa said, standing straight up and showing blood running from his eyes like tears. "I still have use for you, so don't worry… will meet again soon"

"You aren't going anywhere, you bastard!" Ichigo said ,unleashing a black and red Getsuga Tenshou. "You came here and tried to take my partner Zangetsu and then when you loose the upper hand, you try and leave? I don't think so!"

"You are persistent boy…" Muramasa said, holding out his hand. "You understand nothing but what is in front of you… and will never be able to do any different"

"Shut up! Getsuga Chi-doragon-sho!" Ichigo yelled, sending off a dragon shaped wave of energy. "Your going to tell me why your so interesting me! And return the Zanpakuto to their Soul Reaper partners!"

"Hmm.. Perhaps you really do have a partnership with your Zanpakuto…"Muramasa said, as he countered Ichigo's attack with a red energy wave. " I hope that is true...in any case, however… I need to leave...so goodbye"

"I said your not leaving!" Ichigo yelled preparing to attack again before he saw a wave of ash like substance shoot at him, causing him to stop and block it with the flat side of his Zanpakuto that he infused with his spiritual energy. "What the hell is that?!"

"That would be me cutie!" Said the voice of a red haired women, with cat-like attributes including a tail. "I was passing by and saw you could use a hand Muramasa"

"Indeed I could.. Distract him so I can leave" Muramasa said, wiping blood away from his eye. "Do not kill him or seriously hurt him however…not that your strong enough to do so, but don't take any chances.. Return to the others aspa afterwards"

"Righty-oh!" The cat-girl said laughing. "So…wanna dance, Mr. Serious Soul Reaper?"

" Who are you?! And why are you stopping me from getting Muramasa, you stupid cat-girl?!" Ichigo yelled, gripping his sword handle so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "I will stop you Muramasa!"

"Sorry, cutie, but I can't let you do that… by the way, my name is Haineko, not cat-girl" Haineko said, making a sword materialize in her hand. "Now Growl!"

The blade of the sword turned into ash and shot at Ichigo, blocking him from going after the now gone Muramasa. Ichigo blocked most of it though by covering his body with a thick layer of his spirit energy, though he still had small tears on his uniform and cuts his arms, and face after the ash moved away.

"Now bad, Ichigo, no wonder why Rangiku thinks you're a hottie" Haineko said, licking her lips. "What do you say you and I stop fighting and go find a place to be alone together?… I'm more experienced then you , so I can teach you a lot of things if your interested"

"What?.. Are you…are you hitting on me!?" Ichigo demanded with a red face. "What the hell is wrong with you!?...and how do you know Rangiku? Are you her Zanpakuto?"

"Well, well.. They say your dense, but I guess that's not really true…though I'd still think your were hot, even if you were clueless" Haineko replied, spinning around once like a ballerina. "As for your questions.. That's a big fat yes to both of them.. That cow Rangiku was my former master… in addition to me hitting on you…"

"Why are there so many pervert women around me?" Ichigo asked shaking his head. "I'm not too fond of the idea of striking a women...but your really irritating me…"

"How noble of you…but you shouldn't underestimate me because of my gender" Haineko said, with a devious grin. " Fortunately for you.. We might not even have to fight long...since Muramasa is beyond your range of perception by now… but if you wanna dance anyways...then by all means"

Not giving Ichigo a change to respond, Haineko charged forward, slashing at him with her sword again and again. Not wanting to injure her though, Ichigo placed his Zanpakuto on his back and knocked each blow of her blade away with his bare hands, each covered in thick spiritual pressure.

"Huh?…how am I not cutting you?" Haineko demanded , jumping back with a back flip. "I managed to when I first arrived…"

"It's a little trick I learned from someone...since my spiritual pressure is greater then your, all I have to do is cover myself with it, and it pushes back yours.." Ichigo said, with a small grin. "When your spiritual pressure comes in contact with mine, it becomes dull in comparison ,thus preventing your sword from ever doing any damage…"

"Then how did I cut you at first, Mr. smart guy.." Haineko asked, trying to slash at him again.

"I was caught off guard by you at first.. That's all.." Ichigo replied, blocking her strikes. "This is getting old though.. You caused me to loose Muramasa, so your can leave now, Haineko"

Catching her off guard, Ichigo grabbed the blade of Haineko's sword as it came into contact with his hand. He pulled the sword forward, and grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder, to the ground, leaving her dazed.

"I truly am sorry about that.. I really don't like hitting women, but if I haven't done that, this would have continued on forever" Ichigo said, picking up the now unconscious cat girl and hoisting her over his shoulder. "I'll drop you off at the squad 10 barracks for Rangiku,…she can deal with you.. Then I can get back to Hiyori before she throws a fit and kicks my ass…"

Ichigo quickly flash-stepped to the squad 10 barracks and had one of the squad members there tie up the Zanpakuto in Reishi binding chains, and then dropped her off in Captain Hitsugaya's office. Inside, he found Rangiku sleeping on her captain's couch, as she was recovering from her previous injuries.

"Huh?…who's there?" Rangiku asked sitting up, unaware of her robes coming opening and exposing her enormous breasts. "Oh, Ichigo! Hey there what are you…huh? is that Haineko!?"

"Yeah, I found your perverted Zanpakuto a little while ago… she prevented me from going after that guy Muramasa" Ichigo said as he laid the girl down on the couch next to Rangiku and tried to avert his eyes of her melons. "She's just out cold, but I didn't hurt her or anything…she should be up any time now.."

"Oh ok…thank you Ichigo…maybe I should give you a reward, hmm?" Rangiku asked opening her robes slightly wider. "What do you say we have some fun… huh? Where did he go?...oh poo!...he got away….. Are you done pretending to be asleep yet Haineko?"

"Your such a party pooper, Rangiku, you cow" Haineko said, huffing. "Why the heck did he bring me here to you , anyways.."

"No idea…but wee could always talk…maybe about how you left me and went with that vampire wannabe, Muramasa" Rangiku said, stretching and pulling out a bottle of sake, from inside her shihakusho (though exactly where, no one knows). "No?…then how about we talk about how hot Ichigo is? He was carrying you, was he as muscular as he looks?"

"Damn right he was!" Haineko said grinning. "Untie me, pass the sake, and we'll talk all about our favorite orange haired captain"

As Ichigo quickly made his way back to his barracks, Rukia had convinced the Vizard Rose to let her finish the fight against Sode no Shirayuki, since she was her Zanpakuto.

"Why so you hate me so much, Sode no Shirayuki?" Rukia asked, as held her sword out in front of her.

"You are a fool.. And I will destroy everything you love and hold dear…" Shirayuki replied, coldly.

"I guess I took you for granted…. I guess I was always so proud of having the most beautiful Zanpaktou in the Soul Society… that I forgot some important things" Rukia said sadly. "I know I didn't acknowledge you as much as I should… and I should have visited you in my inner world too.. I'm sorry, Sode no Shirayuki"

"That…the is the issue… I do not belong to you, I am my own person, who resided inside of you.." Shirayuki said, looking away.

"Your right… and…and if it means letting go of you, then…your free to leave me and I will pursue you no longer, Shirayuki" Rukia said, putting her sword back in it's sheath. "I will miss you, but I can not force you to be by my side if you are unhappy…though for what its worth.. I did love being by your side"

"Rukia….I.. I'm s-"

Whatever Shirayuki was about to say was cut off when Muramasa appeared and grabbed her wrist.

"We are going, Shirayuki…now" Muramasa said, calmly. "Farewell Soul Reaper.. And other person"

"So rude, my name is Rose, not "other person" Rose siad, folding his arms as he sat on the ledge of a roof. "Are you the fellow Muramasa by any chance?"

"I am…not that it concerns you…Now lets go Sode no Shirayuki" Muramasa said, pulling the reluctant Zanpakuto along and flash stepping away with her.

"A very rude fellow…are you ok, Soul Reaper?" Rose asked jumping off of the roof and landing on his tip toes with his arms out like he was in the shape of a cross.

"What?…oh yes, I'm fine for the most part…" Rukia said standing and hold a small wound on her arm. "Just a few minor wounds, nothing to extreme… what about you, are you ok?"

"But of course, she was a rather week opponent afterall" Rose said smoothing out his clothing. "In any case, I shall be going now that the danger has past…farewell, young soul reaper…oh and before I forget… if you want to get stronger, I suggest you start training a lot more, you have no excuse to be so weak"

"Weak?! What does he know… stupid fruitcake of a man.." Rukia said, clutching her fists at the man who flash stepped away. "I'm not weak!… I'm not…...am I?"

Rukia unclenched her hands ,and looked up at the sky, not getting a answer because she was there all alone.

_Whatever…I need to get myself to the squad 4 barracks… _Rukia thought, sighing and walking off on her own. _I'm not weak either…. Thought training wouldn't hurt…_

After dropping off Haineko Ichigo final headed back to his captain's office, and found Hiyori standing there with her arms folded.

"Oh, hey there babe.. Sorry I tooks so long but I-oof!" Ichigo yelled out as Hiyori kicked him in his stomach. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You took to damn long and I have needs damn it!" Hiyori said with a red face, and narrowing eyes. "Now get you ass inside …now!"

Ichig could only comply as she grabbed him and pull him inside before locking the door behind her.

"Now then…loose them… the pants I mean" Hiyori demanded, red faced and trying to look as intimidating as a 4 foot 4 girl could. "Did I stutter?, take off your pants you morn"

"SAY WHAT!" Ichigo yelled with a red face as well. "What do you mean loose my pants? Are you a pervert?!"

"I said I have needs… the same needs as you do…. You ..started something before you left a little while ago, and now were going to continue.. Understand?" Hiyori said, turning around pulling off her jacket. "If you catch my understanding ..you can take off the pants.. Or I'll take them off for you,… either way you will be pantless in the next 5 minutes, Ichigo-kun"

Staring with a dark red face, Ichigo did indeed understand her meaning.. And the sight of her undressing, Ichigo and a certain "Ichigo Jr." both began to wake up to the situation as well. He gulped at the tighiting in his lower part of his uniform and walked over to Hiyori.

"I can see part of you understands…. Good.. Now, we have several hours till we have meet up again with the others…and you and I are going to enjoy every minutes of it..right?" Hiyori said,undoing Ichigo's uniform and trying to hide her blush. "I love you Ichigo…"

"And I love you too Hiyori, my snaggeltooth" Ichigo said ,pulling her in for a kiss as he took off his Hayori and shihakusho top, and led her to their bed.

As luck would have it, 10 minutes later a young female Soul Reaper with red hair, in a pony tail was walking to Captain's Kurosaki's office to deliver some paper work. She heard strange sounds coming from inside as she neared the door, and stopped walking, wondering if everything was alright. She was about lean her head next to the door to listen in when two loud voices rang out from within.

"Oh god yes.. right there Ichigo...use your tongue more….Ohhh yes" Said a female voice that made the girl freeze in embarrassment. This was followed by a male voice saying "You taste so sweet down here, my snagggel tooth"

The Soul Reaper was so red that she thought she would faint from the extreme embarrassment of what she knew her captain and her lieutenant were doing together inside. She backed away slowly before running so fast that one could probably see the ground catch fire behind her as she darted away.

The girl ran into a room some ways away that she sharred with another female Soul Reaper who was writing in a diary. The other girl looked up, brushing her long hair out of her face before closing up her diary.

"What's with you, Satomi?" The girls asked raising an eyebrow. "Why did you run in, I though your were going to deliver the paper work to Captain Kurosaki?"

"I was...but he… and the Lieutenant ..thay were… and there was moaning… and giggling.. And …I heard them say stuff they were doing to each other!" Satomi blurted out pullnig on her hair franticly.

"Oh I get it.. You caught them going at it, huh?" The other girl said grinning. "Don't feel bad, I've walked up to the office with sounds of them banging like rabbits inside several times… it's not like their quiet about it after all"

"How can you be so calm, Haru!?" Satomi asked, eyes wide. " And so descriptive too?!"

"Oh relax, Satomi… it's a natural thing. Sex… stop being so uptight about it" Haru said ,shaking her head. "Though I must admit, those two really should put up a sound barrier before getting intimate like that.. I bet at least half of the squad has heard them doing the horizontal tango by now…"

Several hours later, Ichigo and Hiyori raced across the roof tops of the Seireitei to get to the meeting with the other captains and Vizards. They were running late due to getting caught up in their "extracurricular activities" in the office/bedroom. Hiyori was on Ichigo's back trying to do her hair back up in it's usual pig tails with one hand , while Ichigo was doing up his sash that tied his shihakusho top together.

The two finally arrived outside the squad 1 barracks and ran inside after Hiyori jumped off, straightening out her shirt as they ran. Yoruichi was outside the door standing whe they got to it and nodded to them.

"About time you got here…huh? Um… Ichigo?… a word?.." Yoruich said, turning him around and reaching to his shihakusho.. Where she pulling out a pair of black underwear with a red heart on them. "You might wanna do something about this before you go in"

Ichigo's face went red and he went quickly over to Hiyori as Yoruichi walked inside the office door leaving the couple on their own.

"Oh Yoruichi,.. was that Ichigo and Hiyori we heard out there?" Captain Kyoraku asked, looking up at her as she sat down on a floor cushion.

"Yes it was as a matter of fact.. They'll be in in a minute or two" She replied ,grinning at him. "No one say anything if you wanna hear something fun"

Voices from the hall could be heard quite clearly after a moment of waiting by everyone.

"Why the hell are my panites in your shihakusho!"

"They obviously got caught in them earlier when we tossed them on the floor!"

"Then be more carefull where your tossing your clothing next time, dumbass!

"Who cares about that, your not wearing any underwear are you?!"

"Damn it.. I didn't even notice!.. How did you notice?"

"Because your wearing tight tracksuit pants.. And they don't leave much to the imagination, you moron… not that your ass isn't hot mind you, but- oww! Damn it! stop hitting me with your sandal!"

"Then stop staring at my ass, you pervert!"

"You're my girlfriend, I'll look at your ass whenever I want to!.., besides I you didn't have a problem with me looking at it a little while ago anyways! Now shut up and go find an empty room to put those panties back on in!"

"You like my ass?… thought it was a little small.."

"You have a great ass babe, ok?, now hurry up so we can get to the meeting!"

A few minutes later Ichigo and Hiyori walked into the meeting room and everyone immediently looked at them and snikered.

"So Ichigo… I hear you're an ass man?" Renjis said, grnninig evily at him.

"Wha..what?!..you all ..heard ...us?" Ichigo asked with a facwe that became deep red. "STOP LISTENING IN ON OUR CONVERSATIONS!"

Hiyori was equally embarrassed and hid herself in Ichigo's captain's hayori as if it it would hide her from the others and giving death threats to Renji.

"Ok, ok…enough.. We can embaress our favorite couple later… we have things to talk about right now" Yoruichi said,with a smile still on her face. "Oh and Ichigo? Maybe next time you won't talk so loudly about personal things right outside a thin door ?"

Ichig just grumbled under his breath, while Hiyori glared at everyone while sitting on Ichigo's lap with her arms crossed.

"Ok folks, lets begin our meeting…" Captain Kyoraku said, looking around. "We need to split up into groups to deal with Muramasa and our rebellious Zanpakuto, finding our lost captains and lieutenants, and recovering any survivors from the attacks that might still be out there"

"Muramasa is mine" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes. "He tried to take Zangetsu… and I wasn't finished with him before he had Rangiku's Zanpakuto Haineko buy him time to escape"

"Calm done Ichigo… you can lead the groups against him if you want, but your not going alone" Captain Ukitake said trying to calm his orange haired friend. " Who should go with Ichigo though?"

"I'm going too… and we'll take Renji, Love, Hisagi, Isane, and Quincy boy and some of squad 11's members due to their combat experience" Hiyori said,leaing back against Ichigo's chest. "We'll go after Muramasa and kick his wannabe vampire ass"

"Alright then, we'll leave him to you, and figure who to assing to dealing with the Zanpakuto" Kyoraku said, lifting his hat. "Soifon? Can you have the stealth force stationed around the Seireitei borders to be on the look out for the Zanpaukto?"

"Of course… as soon as we're done with this meeting" Soifon said nodding. "It might also be prudent to have some of my stealth force members go with Ichigo and his group to help track where Muramasa is hiding out"

"Good idea.. Now then as for the Zanpakuto-"

"Pardon the interruption Captains and Lieutenants , but I have a message from the Patrol corps" A Soul Reaper dressed in the Stealth force garb said, as he opened the door bowing to them.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked ,long over at the man.

"I am in no way obligated to answer you sir, I work under Captain Soifon , not you" The man said, glancing over at a now teeth gritting Ichigo.

"Apologize to him and answer at once, you worthless fool!" Sopifon yelled, making the man shrink back slightly.

"My..my apologies Captain Soifon, Captain Kurosaki" The mans said bowling deeply. "Apparently, The 3rd seat of squad 11, Ikkaku Maderame has just engaged in a fight with his Zanpakuto, Hozukimaru, near the squad 11 barracks"

" Have units 3 and 4 of the Patrol corps head to the area and try to keep any other Zanpakuto's from getting into the area…" Soifon said, standing up. "I suggest we have members of the Kido Corps get to the area as well so we can capture the Zanpakuto that Ikakku is fighting"

"I was thinking along the same lines, Captain… go for it then" Kyoraku said, with a nod. "Now lets get going, I wanna track down old man Yama …being head Captain isn't exactly my idea of fun here"

"Agreed… we'll split up the rest of us and our squads into temas now, and get this over with.. The sooner we find where Captain Yamamoto, the better" Ukitake said with a slight cough. "We should get underway, in face , Ichigo you and your team can leave now if you'd like.. Try to track down the whereabouts of Muramasa…and if you run into any Zanpakuto ..then do not hesitated to try and subdue them if you think you can handle it"

"Right.. Come on Hiyori, Renji, Love, Shuhei , Isane, and Uryu.. Lets move it" Ichigo said standing up. "Be carefull if any of you come into contact with Muramasa.. He's dangerous and can forcibly enter your inner world somehow"

"Our inner world?.. Us Vizards better be careful then, thanks for the heads up, Ichigo" Shinji said, nodding at him. "Good luck you guys, hopefully we can meet up with you soon"

Ichigo nodded back and quickly left with his group as fast as he could hoping to find the whereabouts of Muramasa, and he knew exactly where to start.

After Ichigo and his team left, Kyoraku turned to the others still present and took a deep breath.

"Ok then guys and gals, time to get our other teams assembled and head out"

Across the Soul Society, in large caverns the group of Zanpakutos belonging to the various lieutenants and Captains of the 13 court guard squads were all meeting.

"Hey…where's Haineko?" Tobiume asked looking around. "Shouldn't she have been back by now, Muramasa?"

"It's possible that the Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki has either captured or destroyed her" Muramasa said, sitting and relaxing. "It is simply one more sin made by the Soul Reapers that need dealing with"

"Ichigo?… mmm… he's not the kind of guy who would kill her..I'm sure she's ok" Said a tiny Zanpakuto spirit that flew around and landed on the shoulder of Ruri'iro Kujaku.

"How can you be so sure, Suzumebachi?" The petite Tobiume asked sitting down. "He's a Soul Reaper afterall.."

"Maybe..but's he's a dreamy Soul Reaper..with his bright orange hair.. And his muscles…mmm yummy… you know the one…remember when you saw him, Tobiume?" Suzumebachi asked with a dreamy sigh. "You don't even havea change with him either,since your wielder is dead….and your weakening.."

"That's not my fault… it's Aizen's that asshole…" Tobiyume said, huffing. "I have no weilder…and I'm getting weaker without her alive…I'm going to fade away into nothingness soon.."

"Sucks for you… but back to Ichigo….I think you were more into him then I was…" Suzumebachi said, grinning. "In fact, you practically soaked your panites when I showed you him while he was working out.."

"I did not you perverted lier!" Tobiume yelled back, with a red face. "You were the one who was moan-"

"Enough.. If I'm not mistaken.. We have a visitor" Muramasa said, cutting of Tobiume. "Senbonzakura ..would you like to bring out our guest?"

"Of course, Muramasa…you can come out now" Senbonzakura said, tilting his samurai helmeted head to his left.

"Very well" A man said, walking out into the opening. " A pleasure to meet you in person.. Muramasa"

"The same for you…Soul Reaper" Muramasa said, with a devious smile. " You are here to join us then?"

"No! I won't let a Soul Reaper be here!" The red outlined, shadowy Zanpakuto said growling. "I'm going to carve him into pieces!"

"How pretensious..boy" The Soul Reaper said, appearing behind the Zanpakuto. "Scatter"

"What the hell?...damn you!…."

The Zanpakuto was slammed into the cave wall by a mass of pink cherry blossoms, and then fell to the ground, now gripping strange double bladed scythe weapons in each hand.

"Your going to regret that, Soul Reaper..I am Kazeshini! And I will tear you apart!" Kazeshini said, glowing red. "What the name..the name of my victim?!"

"I am the Captain of squad 6...Byakuya Kuchiki…and by my blade.. You shall fall" Byakuya said, holding his sword out. "I shall teach you..to know your place"

"We'll see...Soul Reaper… we'll see"

End of Chapter 43

To be continued..

Please read, enjoy, and review everyone… And ask any question or leave any comments you might have. I'll do my best to answer all those with links to reply to and respond to the rest on the next chapter at the beginning like I did this time. Oh and before anyone says anything, I know the sex scene with Ichigo and Hiyori wasn't really much of a sex scene at all. But if I got to graphic my story could be booted.. And I put too much time and effort into this to have that happen.. Anyways, I'll See you all next time..


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 44

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series ,by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

No review questions to answer this chapter…only two people sent "reviews" that didn't have links, and they were perverted statements I'd rather not repeat… so onto the chapter.

_Last time, on Bleach_…. Ichigo, his inner hollow, and Zangetsu continued to face off against the mysterious man named Muramasa, and by working together the three were able to drive him from Ichigo's inner world. However, when Ichigo attempted to confront Muramasa in the real world, he had Haineko, the Zanpakuto of Rangiku Matsumoto, by him time while he escaped . Meanwhile, Rukia faced off against her Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, but didn't gain much ground before, Muramasa appeared and forced the Zanpakuto to leave with him. Then after a little alone time with his girlfriend Hiyori, Ichigo met up with the other captains and several lieutenants, and suffered a embarrassing meeting, before heading out with Hiyori, Renji, Love, Shuhei , Isane, and Uryu to try and track down Muramasa.

We rejoin Ichigo and his group as they leave the squad 1 barracks and begin hopping across the roof tops.

"Ichigo? Do you even have a idea where we're going to find this Muramasa person at?" Uryu asked , as he ran up by Ichigo. "Me and your two Vizard friends haven't even seen this man"

"He's one freaky bastard to be sure…" Ichigo said, glancing over at Uryu. "He's pale with brown hair, strange purple marks around his eyes and...I think he has a fur thing around the collar of his coat"

"You think?…" Uryu asked, shaking his head. "Typical… Ichigo Kurosaki…can barely remember a person he met…even if he fought against them… I'd be surprised if you knew the names of any of your squad members"

"Actually… besides the 3rd seat I don't know any of my squad members names…" Ichigo said, slightly embarrassed, before he spotted something and came to a stop, causing the others to come to abruptly halt. "Who's that?"

"Who's who, man?" Love asked, looking at Ichigo. "Oh…you mean that fat man down there?.. The Soul Reaper?"

"No.. not him.. The other guy who just showed up there" Ichigo said, as he crouched down on the roof to survey the scene. " …there are unconscious Soul Reapers down their too…"

Down below, the fat (and pathetic) Lieutenant of Squad 2, Marechiyo Omaeda, was walking with several members' of his squad when he saw the fat man and the Soul Reapers that Ichigo had just spotted.

"Hey...what the heck happened here?" Omaeda asked out loud as he chomped on a rice cracker. "And who's this guy?"

"Huh...look at you fat stuff.." The fat man said, to Omaeda, eating a rice cracker as well. "Your fat and ugly, you know that? Not at all handsome like me"

"Fat?! Ugly?! You're the ugly fat guy here pal!" Omaeda retorted, chomping on his rice cracker fiercely. "I'm incredibly handsome…not to mention that I'm just plump, not fat! It's a sign of being rich!"

"More like a sign of being a fat, idiotic, loser of a Soul Reaper…" Hiyori muttered from their perch on the roof. "I'm tired of standing around…I'm to get that fat bastard, who's obviously a Zanpakuto, and get this over with so we can move on"

"Huh?…what do you mean your gonna get it over …oh crap" Ichigo said, looking over at his short girlfriend. "Renji, Uryu, Isane, Shuhei...get back to cover now!"

"What are you talking about?" Renji asked, as Ichigo pointed over to Hiyori who had a white mask forming over the side of her head. "Huh?…what's going on here?"

Love and Ichigo nodded to one another before grabbing the confused Renji, Isane, Shuhei and dashing back away out of danger while Uryu followed. Hiyori on the other hand, pulled her fully formed hollow mask down over her face, and narrowed her now black and gold eyes and opened her mouth to let out a terrifying scream. It got the attention of Omaeda, the fat man in front of him and his squad mates, who all looked beyond frightened at the source of the scream.

Hiyori opened her mask covered hollow mouth and a small red Cero beam formed there. The small ball of red energy shot out below at the fat Zanpakuto spirit, knocking him through several walls. She then dissolved her mask and jumped down on the ground with Ichigo right behind her.

"What…what the hell was that!?" The fat, lazy Marechiyo asked wide eyed as he sat on the ground.

"God your stupid! Are you really this stupid...I mean holy shit.. How the fuck do you not know what that was? It was a Cero! Did you even pay attention in class at the academy? Or did you spend all your time eating, you lazy, fat fuck" Hiyori demanded /asked in a matter of moments taking only a single breath before continuing her rant at the now frightening man she now stood before. "Are you gonna say anything or just sit there with your mouth hanging open to catch flies your fat headed asshole! Your completely useless in everything, aren't you?, You pencil dick retard! How Soifon puts up with you stupidity, incompetence and idiocy is beyond me! I would have transferred you or just killed you in your sleep.. In fact maybe I should go offer to do that for Soifon later, And did I mention how fat you are? Maybe you should lay off the food you fat sack of shit!…fatty!,fatty,!fatty!,fatty!,fatty!,fatty!,fatty!,fatty!,fatty!"

"Holy shit…" Love said, nearly dropping his Shonen Jump manga magazine. "Talk about tearing someone a new asshole man...that was brutal even for her...gotta be a new record in fact"

At the same time, Ichigo face palmed, Renji laughed his ass off nearly falling off the roof, while Shuhei just stared, and Isane and Uryu blushed at the long series of swear words Hiyori yelled out at the fat Lieutenant.

"We'll I feel better now" Hiyori then said with a smile.. "That useless Zanpakuto there is yours, right fatty?…you can take care of him the rest of the way.. Assuming you can even handle that job with out fucking it up"

"Um.. Nice work and all Hiyori… I think… but maybe we should get a move on?" Ichigo said, walking over to his short, foul mouth girlfriend. "You pick on him again later maybe… we got find Muramasa.. And can I ask why you always go so far over he top with everything you do?"

Hiyori ignored his question with a look of satisfaction on her face. As she and Ichigo were about to walk off however, a large bladed pole came crashing down which they narrowly avoid in time and jumped back.

"Well well…Ichigo Kurosaki...and the other boy…uh.. Hiyori was it?" A large, muscular brown skinned man with long orange hair said walking out into the area holding onto the spear like weapon. "Good to see ya again.. I've been looking forward to a rematch against you two even though your not who I'm looking for"

"Did…did you just call me a boy , you psycho monkey fuck!?" grinding her teeth and waving her fist around wildly. "I'll have you know I'm a girl in every since of the word! I got boobs, small but shapely hips and sha-"

Ichigo quickly slapped him hand over Hiyori mouth with wide eyes.

"Sorry about that…she's kind of sensitive about that kind of thing…" Ichigo said, as Hiyori glared at him with her mouth covered up still. "Anyways...you said you wanted a rematch with us? That implies we've met before…and I certainly don't remember seeing someone like you before…..although the weapon looks kind of familiar.."

"I see.. So you don't remember me?...guess it's not surprising… maybe you recognize this…" The large man said, as he lifted up his weapon he held in both hands.. "Behold my sansetsukon.. my three part staff weapon!"

The man swung his weapon down at Ichigo, who quickly brought his Zanpakuto up, blocking it mid strike.

"Good reflexes kid.. Just like last time" The mans said grinning.

"Well don't count me out ,asshole!" Hiyori said, pulling out her own sword.

"Don't bother, Ichigo,… lieutenant… Hozukimaru is mine" Said Ikkaku, jumping off a nearby roof. "If you truly are him that is…"

"Oh I am, Ikkaku… shall I prove it?" Hozukimaru asked, with a grin. "How about …the lucky dance to prove it?"

"Not a bad idea…though just knowing about it won't prove to me who you are.." Ikkaku said, pulling his sword and sheath together from his side and holding them in his hands. "Show me you can do it right, and I'll believe you"

Hozukimaru nodded and the two of them proceeded to perform the strange and rarely seen "Lucky Dance"

"Umm… watching this makes my brain feel like it's going to tear itself out of my skull to escape this retarded shit…. Lets get the fuck out of here, Ichigo" Hiyori said, cringing.

"Yeah…let's.." Ichigo agreed, slowly backing up before he and Hiyori booked for it with the others in pursuit.

After they were gone from sight, Hozukimaru and Ikkaku finished the dance, both grinning.

"You know there gone right, Ikkaku?" Hozukimaru asked, resting his weapon on his shoulder.

"Like it matters…there's gonna be a fight here right now…" Ikkaku said, grinning evilly. "A fight between you and me…the others would only get in our way"

"My thoughts exactly.." Hozukimaru said, swinging his staff weapon at Ikkaku without warning.

Ikkaku barely blocked it with his sheath while he swung his sword around sideways at him. Hozukimaru jumped out of the way, and Ikkaku stabbed forward while blocking with his sheath. He grinned as he advanced on his Zanpakuto spirit,

"Now this is fun, isn't it!?" Ikkaku exclaimed happily. "Let's see how long this can go on for!"

Hozukimaru nodded while spinning his staff around at high speed like a helicopter blade as Ikkaku tried to slice through it. He stopped the spinning and slammed it down at Ikkaku hard, slamming into his shoulder as Ikkaku tried to dodge it but instead got his shoulder sliced deeply.

"Shit ..you actually cut me…now I know for sure that you are Hozukimaru" Ikkaku said, pulling healing cream out of his sword handle and grinning like a mad man. " Now that means, I can get serious in this fight!"

"So can I…" Hozukimaru replied in agreement. "Bankai!"

A wave of intense spiritual energy flooded the area, and knocked Ikkaku back despite his best efforts to remain in place. He was smashed through two walls before he came to a stop and man was he pissed.. And in pain, definitely in pain. After a few minutes he stood up, ripping the torn sleeve on his right arm away, and picking up his sheath he had dropped during the collision.

"Damn…that fucking hurt" Ikkaku said, spitting out blood. "Your lucky you didn't make me bust any teeth.. Getting replacements from Akon at the Research Department is a pain in the ass"

Ikkaku then dashed forward at Hozukimaru who now held the Bankai form of Ikkaku's Zanpakuto, which was three enormous blades held together with a thick metal chain. The middle blade which resembled a seesaw, also had a imprint of a long dragon on it.

"Well, well… if it isn't my Bankai, Ryumon Hozukimaru…" Ikkaku said, with a grin on his face. "It's been a long while since I've see that form… and even though I'm not happy with you using it where others could see it… I wont hold it against you this time. After all, it means you'll be giving it your all in this fight!"

"Please stand down, Squad 11 3rd seat, Ikkaku Madarame" Said a member of the stealth force, who appeared out of nowhere along side several others. "We're here to gather up the rogue Zanpakuto spirits.. And by order of the acting head captains, Captain Ukitake and Captain Kyoraku. We are to bring them to the department of Research and Development for study"

"Oh really?.. Well you can take him back.. After I kick his ass" Ikkaku said, mostly ignoring them. "Unless you want to interfere and get injured by mistake...maybe even killed"

The stealth force members looked at each other and gulped. They knew Ikkaku's reputation as a from blood thirsty member of the infamous squad 11.. They had no intention of interfering, so they stepped back to one side, hope Captain's Soifon, Kyoraku, and Ukitake would forgive them for waiting.

Ikkaku and his Zanpakuto battle for what seemed like hours, both getting cuts, and gashes and bruises as they did. They both stood apart from one and other after a while, both breathing hard.

"Your doing good against me, despite using this" Hozukimaru said ,grinning and holding his Bankai form of his weapon up. "But I wonder how much longer you can hold up for?"

As they continued to fight ,we travel across the Soul Society, where the Zanpakuto spirit Kazeshini and Soul Reaper Captain Kuchiki face off inside a mysterious cave.

"You.. Can not win" Byakuya said calmly, as he dodged an attack and stabbed Kazeshini in his shoulder. "Surrender now..before I kill you where you stand…. I will not repeat myself"

"You think I'll give up just cause I'm bleeding Soul Reaper?!" Kazeshini demanded, growling at Byakuya. ""I'm gonna cut you into tiny, ribbons and send you to the other Soul Reapers piece by piece!"

"That's enough you two…" Muramasa said ,suddenly stepping between them. "As entertaining as this is…this Soul Reaper is now our ally…Understand?"

Kazashini ignored him and threw a spinning blade at Byakuya who flash stepped behind him and hit in on the back of the head with the handel of his sword, knocking him to the ground.

"I believe he said that was enough" Byakuya said to the now unconscious Kazeshini.

"Thank you, Byakuya.. He can be quite annoying and stubborn...can't he?" Muramasa said, with a slight grin. "Now then… we have things to do…for I have no doubt that Ichigo Kurosaki will come after me soon enough…"

"Then shouldn't we eliminate him before he does?" said a women covered mostly in green fur and holding onto a chain hooked to the collar of a strange boy with a snake's tail. "I've fought against that boy several times and I knew how tough the kid can be… he only gotten stronger since then too.."

"Hey, by the way.. Has anyone seen Haineko...or Hyorinmaru for that matter?" the same women asked looking aournd. "What about you, Sode no Shirayuki? You were out there…did you see either of them"

"I…I.. no.. I didn't see them anywhere" Sode no Shirayuki said, not looking at the other woman. "…."

"What's her problem?" ask the snake boy, as he rudely scratched his butt. "She looks like something big happened"

"Doesn't matter , snake… be quiet" The fur covered womane said. "We have more important things to deal with"

"What did you say, you old hag?" The snake boy demanded,

"OLD HAG! I'm gonna strangle you you little brat!" The women yelled back. as she and the snake boy continued to argue.

"While those two… "entertain" themselves, we can get down to business" Muramasa said, looking around the cave. "The next phase of our plan will soon occur.."

"What is the next phase?" Asked the small, flying, bee-like girl, Suzumebachi.

"Our new friend here, Byakuya, is going to help us out, by going to assist us as some of us go out to continue pursuing the other Soul Reapers" Muramasa replied with a grin. "Isn't that right?"

"I will assist you… in order to achieve my goals" Byakuya replied simply. "That is all…"

"Good. I have things too do right at this moment …" Muramasa said ,coughing a bit. "I'll be going now.. Byakuya , your in charge till I get back.. The rest of you will wait here , for the Soul Reapers to come after us…why pursue our pry, when our prey will come to us"

"Him in charge? He's a Soul Reaper!" said a strange man with blue hair wrapped in bandages with orange feathers on the back of his head. "He may be a beautiful man.. But he's not as beautiful as me… and the whole being a Soul Reaper thing is bad too"

"If you wanna fight him.. Then be my guest" Muramasa said, as he walked away. "By the way… would someone go find where Hyorinmaru went to and Haineko as well?…"

Muramasa then left the cave, leaving the others alone and headed out of the Soul Society towards the forest of Menos. He eventually arrived and wiped blood from his eye as he walked slowly around the large forest area.

"Finally, I'm here…but I am running out of time" He said out loud to himself. "Hmm? Menos…how .. Annoying….Though expected…and needed"

A large group of Menos roared at him and slowly walked towards him. Muramasa simply looked up at them in annoyence as he raised his hand at them. As the Menos neared him, charging up ceros, he destroyed the entire group of them with the same amount of effort a person might casually swat at annoying then continued walking as if nothing happened, walking away thinking aobut how soon he would complete his plan.

Meanwhile, elsewhere… Ichigo, Hiyori, Renji, Love, Shuhei , Isane, and Uryu continued on their journey to find the whereabouts of Muramasa. They bounded across the rooftops, and then treetops, going as fast as they could, while searching for any signs of where their target could be. They soon felt strange spritual pressure as they near a forest area outskirts of the Soul Society. They stopped and look around, as they felt cold air flooding the area putting them on guard.

"Cold air…could it be Sode no Shiriyuki again?" Ichigo asked out loud. "Everyone be careful.. If it is her, then we need to be on our guard"

"Sode no Shirayuki…is that you out here?" Ichigo asked, walking slowly.

"Is someone there?…" a calm semi-deep voice asked from the trees. " A Soul Reaper… I see"

"Who…who the heck are you?" Ichigo asked, putting his hand on the grip of his sword on his back. "Your not Sode no Shirayuki…."

"..no I am not…This Sode no Shirayuki you speak of" the man ,who the voice belonged to said, as he stepped out into the opening, revealing himself to be a tall man, with teal hair, and dressed in samurai-like armor with a kimono. "Tell me…what is your name, young Soul Reaper…"

"Ichigo Kurosaki…." Ichigo replied, keeping on guard. "Now who are you...and what are you doing here?"

"I…do not know my name…" The man said, grimacing. " I will say this, though…You seem quite strong, Ichigo Kurosaki.. As strong as I have heard"

"What? Does that have to do with-" Ichigo started to say before the man surrounded him with four large dragons made of ice. "This is a annoying.."

"Should we help him?" Isane asked, looking at the other s as they observed Ichigo while hiding their spirtual pressure. "That ice man looks quite strong… and those powers look familiar somehow"

"Relax.. I didn't know Ichigo very long while he trained with us Vizards…but they did make him a captain and he's defeated a lot of stronger opponents " Love said, taking off his sunglasses and cleaning the lens. "He'll be fine….right Hiyori?"

"He will be.. I really don't want to have to go out and kick his opponent's ass for him" Hiyori said, keeping an cloes eye on Ichigo. "Then I'd have to kick Ichigo's ass for loosing too… and that's just annoying …"

Back over with Ichigo…

Ichigo flared up his spiritaul pressure and used a black Getsuga Tenshou to shatter the ice pillar that the dragons had started to form around him.

"You are determined as well it seems, Ichigo Kurosaki.." The man said, calmly. "Very strong, very determined..…..tell me something, can you use Bankai?"

"Bankai…?" Ichigo asked in a confused tone. "Yes.. But why do you want to know?"

"No reason… But Bankai _is_ the strongerst from of power for a Soul Reaper…" The man replied. "I wanted to know for sure how powerful you are…In order to find out…"

"Find out what?" Ichigo asked, gripping his sword tightly. "What reason do you have?...is it because u wanna fight me?"

"No… Muramasa has forbidden us from fighting you…" The man said in response. " I wanted to see.. if u were my master that I seek to find.."

"Your master?…" Ichigo said, in reply. "I'm not…I'm sorry…"

"I see…then I have no business with you…" The man said ,as he started walking away. "Farewell"

"I can't let you leave…you're a Zanpakuto…" Ichigo said, flaring his spiritual pressure. "Your coming with me!"

"I see…but that is not my concern" The mans said, shooting ice at Ichigo. "Sennen Hyoro!"

Ichigo was surrounded with ice again, only stronger then the last time and he didn't want to waste time again.

"Bankai!"

His spiritual pressure shot up, enveloping the area and shattering the ice around him, and pushing the man back a little ways.

"Tensa Zangetsu" Ichigo said, now standing in Bankai form with his tathered robes and long skinny sword. " I told you… your coming with me.."

"So…that is your Bankai, Ichigo?" Said, another voice from cloes by. "I heard Captain Kuchiki mention it..but I certainly didn't know what to expect.."

"Huh?…Toshiro? Is that you?" Ichigo asked, recognizing him as he came into view. "Where have you been? Rangiku said she was separated from you"

"She was… I've been following this Zanpakuto down though" Captain Hitsugaya replied, nodding. "And that's Captain Hitsugiya to you, Captain Kurosaki"

"You've been following him? Do you know who he is?" Hiyori asked, flash stepping by Ichigo.

"You're here as well I see, Lieutenant Sarugaki…" Captain Hitsugaya commented, looking at her. "As for your question… I do indeed know who he is…. He is Hyorinmaru… my Zanpakuto"

"I told you…I am not" The man said, turning away from him, Ichigo and Hiyori. "I do not understand why you persue me so…."

"Toshiro..me, Hiyori, Love, Renji, Uryu, Shuhei and Isane are on a mission to find the leader of the incident, a man named Muramasa…" Ichigo said, looking over at the short white haired captain. "Can you deal with him?"

"What kind of question is that?… not only is he my Zanpakuto.. But I am a captain.." Captain Hitsugaya answered, pulling his sword out of the sheath on his back. "Whatever you and ..your alies are up to..you can go and do it..I'll be fine.. And I guess I'll give up trying to correct you on my title…"

"Right…. You heard him.. We have a job to do, so lets do it" Hiyori said, elbowing Ichigo. "Get your asses moving.. We got us a vampire looking mother fucker to track down"

Ichigo grinned slightly before they flash stepped over to the others on their team and ran off together on their search for Muramasa. After they left, Hitsugaya looked over at Hyorinmaru and sighed, knowing what may happen.

"You….are merely a child…. Much like Ichigo Kurosaki.." Hyorinmaru said, walking slowly towards Hitsugaya. " Although he has far more potenital then you ..you are still growing… and not worthy of such a thing as weilding me"

"Tell me..how do you not know who I am?" Captain Hitsugaya inquired. "Does Muramasa have something to do with this?… did he erase your memory?"

"I…do not know… I merely awoke without memories of my master when I was released" Hyorinmaru repelid, solemnly. "You say you are my master, despite my belief that you are too young. However.. If you truly are ..then you need to prove it too me, prove your worth…"

"If that is what it takes to prove the truth of my clam..then so be it" Captain Hitsugaya said in response, as he gripped his sword. " I'll show you my skill"

Hyorinmaru moved behind Captain Hitsugaya at incredible speed and swung a sword at him. In response, Hitusgaya brough his blade up and blocked it, sending spark flying as the blades slide against each other. Hitsugaya jumps back momentarily before charging at him with his swiord held to the side, swining it quickly. Hyorinmaru shook his head a nd dodged it, grabbing him by his arm and tossing him at a near by tree, to which Hitsugaya barely kicks off of.

"Bakudo 63, Sajo Sabaku!" Hitsugaya yelled, before then sending off another kido spell. "Now Hado 32, Okasen!"

"So naive .. This can not hold me…. And your spell will not hurt me…" Hyorinmaru said, shattering the spell holding him and then swung his sword, sending a wave of ice that destroyed the kido energy flying at him. "Allow me now…Tenso Jurin"

The sky grew dark with storm clouds above them, and Hyorinmaru raised his sword.

"Reign over the Frosted Heavens…" He said as a large dragon of ice formed and shot fourth from Hyorinmaru's sword, roaring loudly and they flying at Hitsugaya. He curse silently, and fired a mid level fire Kido spell at Hyorinmaru in retaliation as he ran around him in a wide arc.

"My turn…" Hitsugaya said, steeling his resolve as he ran and pushed off of a tree. "Ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all things in creation, the flutter of wings, ye who bares the name of man! On the wall of the blue flame, inscribed on a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens! Hado 73, Soron Sokatsuki!"

"Interesting…" Hyorinmaru said, sending out another dragon of ice at the impeding attack.

The ice dragon hit Hitsugaya at his leg, smashing him to the ground, while the Kido spell burnt Hyorinmaru's arm as he tried to block it with intense cold. Hitsugaya hit the ground a rolled before getting up and cringing with pain but refusing to give up.

"As I said, though impressive, you are not strong enough…."

"We'll see about that…I'll admit I'm merely a child.. And that my control over you is not yet that of a master.. I still a long way to go...but I learn more ever day that I wield you.. And I will continue to grow beyond my limits. You have my word!…" Hitsugaya yelled, drawing on all of his resolve and thinking about his past whe nhe lived with his grandmother and the strength of her belief in him " I will not give up, I'll defeat you ,and prove myself as your weilder!… Now Reign over the Frosted Heavens! Hyorinmaru!"

Hyorinmaru gasped in surprise as Hitsugaya activated his Shikai from of his Zanpakuto and let a dragon of ice fly out of his sword.

"You… weild my power afterall…" Hyorinmaru stated in surprise. "Perhapes you hold some truth in your statement from before.."

"Tell me what your instincts , Hyorinmaru…what do they say about this situation...and about me?!" Captain Hitsugaya demanded, holding his sword.

"My instincts… are to find my master…" Hyorinmaru replied to him. "To recover my memories"

"Then I will make you remember! Even if I must injure myself in the process!" Captain Hitsugaya said, racing at Hyorinmaru using flash step. "Ryusenka!"

Captain Hitsugaya appeared in front of Hyorinmaru and stabbed his sword forward as ice formed and encased both of them in a solid pillar of that moment, Hyorimaru realized everything that Histsugaya had said was true and he couldn't help but smile slightly.

_He truly is my master... My partner…the one I forgot.._ Hyorinmaru thought as he shattered the ice around them and quickly caught Hitsugaya as he fell from the sky, unconscious from overexerting his power. _I promise I will never forget again… who you are.. And who I am… my master._

Hyorinmaru set Hitsugaya on the ground gently, promising to never again stray and to help him grow to fullfill his true potential. As he sat there by his master, he wondered more about the young Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki and what his future held.. As well as why Muramasa was so intereseted in him.

Meanwhile, a long ways away, in the Menos Forest, Muramasa himself walked over to a single injured Menos who's injuries he himself had inflicted upon the creature.

"I am almost out of time.." Muramasa said, as he held out his hand and placed it on the head of the Menos. "This will help though…"

With that, purple Reishi flowed out of the Menos and in to Muramasa, re-energizing him as the Menos roared out, in what seemed to be pain. After he finished, the Meno disappeared, dead, and Muramasa sighed as he walked away.

"Though my time grow shorter.." Muramasa said, looking up as he returned to the Soul Society. "Nothing and no one will stand in the way of revenge… and _his_ revival"

End of Chapter 44

To be continued in Chapter 45...

Well that certainly took a hell of a lot longer then I had originally about that everyone.. Part of it was my internet connection, part of it my computer itself ansd the final part was because I was busy.. To everyone who review my story so far(including the last chapter) thank you all. I tried to respond in someway to everyone who hada link in there review that wassent to my email inbox, and to everyone else who was just a guest reviewer,.. Thanks you as well.. Thes people include, Mike, an unknown/unnamed reviewer, and several other unnmed guests as well. Please read , enjoy and maybe review this chapter as well. Thank you in advance…


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 45

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series ,by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Ichigo, Hiyori, Renji, Love, Shuhei , Isane, and Uryu were still in the forested area of the Soul Society searching for Muramasa, when they saw a large series of mountains in the distance.

"Ichigo… I sense a lot of spiritual pressure coming from within the mountain…" Uryu said suddenly as they ran though the forest.

"Is Muramasa among them?" Ichigo asked as they came to a stop.

"I'm not sure what his spiritual pressure is like.. So I can't tell you that.. " Uryu said, frowning in annoyance.

"We should still be careful though.. The spiritual energy might belong to the rogue Zanpakuto…" Isane added, putting her hands together. "Are we going inside to investigate. Captain Kurosaki?.. I-I mean Ichigo"

"Um… I guess… we don't know that Muramasa is in there… but we don't know for sure he's not either" Ichigo said, pulling his Zanpakuto off his back.

"Just a moment Ichigo" Said a female voice from nearby.

Ichigo and the others looked and saw Soifon, along with members of the Stealth force and strange Soul Reapers with bizarre hairstyles.

"Um hey Soifon, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked looking at the petite captain in slight confusion. "…and who are the weirdos with you?… there not a part of squad 2 are they?"

"Certainly not! I would never allow such insane Soul Reapers to join my squad…theses are some volunteer members from Squad 11" Soifon replied, folding her arms. "You did say back in chapter 43 that you would take some squad 11 members to assist you…or rather Hiyori did…but close enough"

"She's right, I did say that…see? In the lower part of the chapter.." Hiyori said, grabbing her internet enabled smart phone off a waiting crew member. "Chapter 43... I said "lets grab some of 11's members due to their combat experience"… well guess we forgot about that…I blame the writer…"

"Can someone get me a ice coffee?" Soifon asked a intern. "…I want it ready for me after me scenes"

"Anyways…..besides delivering us squad 11 members, what are you doing here Soifon?" Ichigo asked, glancing between her and the mountain. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see you , but I thought you were going to deal with the rouge Zanpakuto?"

"We have tracked the spirit energy that we believe belongs to the numerous Zanpakuto to this location" Soifon replied, looking serious. " The question is why are you here?"

"We believe there is the possibility that Muramasa might be located inside the mountain" Uryu replied, stepping forward from behind Ichigo. "We intend to go in and check for him….and I assume battle any resistance we encounter"

"Is that so?….in that case, I should inform you the other reason we were sent here…" Soifon said, nodding to one of her stealth force members, who leapt off away from the area. "We interrogated the Zanpakuto spirits that belong to Lieutenant Matsumoto and my fat lazy Lieutenant, Omaeda. We have reason to believe that the head captain is being kept here"

"The old man?….huh… any ideas where inside he is?" Ichigo asked Soifon, scrunching his brow.

"We are uncertain…" Soifon replied, also scrunching her brow. "The Zanpakuto we "talked" to did not appear to be privy to such info.."

"Either way, we should get moving...you gotta the old man to find, and we got the vampire looking freak to kill…" Hiyori said, speaking up. "I think we should split up when we get inside as well…so there's a greater chance of finding Muramasa"

"Are you sure about that, Hiyori?…. I'm the only one who's fought Muramasa…and I only won because of the help of my Zanpakuto, Zangetsu...and my inner hollow" Ichigo said to his girlfriend, looking down at her. " No one single person can take him down in combat"

"Then spilt up in pairs… there are 7 of you and with the 3 members of squad 11 here… you can make 5 pairs of two" Soifon said, cutting in. "You're a captain Ichigo…and only part of that involves wielding your spiritual power…it's also important to be able to think on the fly and make quick decisions…. You have a sharp mind, it is just a matter of utilizing it a bit better, Ichigo"

"….right… anyways, you go ahead and we'll use you suggestion" Ichigo said with a nod as he held back his slight irritation. "If we see the head captain, we'll rescue him…. If you find Muramasa then be careful Soifon"

"Right.. The same to you all as well" Soifon replied back before she and her squad member flash stepped out of sight.

"She seemed kind of cold …considering.." Ichigo said, frowning.

"I think that Captain Soifon was in…"duty mode" so to speak" Isane said, replying to him. "A Soul Reaper and especially captains have to ignore their emotions in dangerous battles and situations like this. I'm certain she's worried about you and the rest of us, but her duty to find the head captain has to come first… not to mention she's probably confident in our abilities for our own mission here"

"I guess your right Isane… ok then we'll use Soifon's idea and split into twos…" Ichigo said, nodding. "Ok.. I'll go with Isane… Renji your with um…the guy with the spiky purple hair from squad 11, Shuhei your with Love, Hiyori your with the guy with a blond Mohawk and sunglasses, and Uryu your with the last guy with the tattoo on his face…got it?"

"Though taking orders from a Soul Reaper isn't something I'm fond of… I'll agree for now.." Uryu said, adjusting his glasses. "I am surprised you didn't pick Hiyori to your partner considering your relationship"

"Hiyori is very powerful and probably captain class… especially now that she's been training regularly… she just took some time to get herself back in top shape" Ichigo said with a small confident smile at Hiyori. "She'll be more then fine in this situation… and while I'm not sure about the whole fighting against Muramasa thing… she'll at least be able to hold her own till back up arrives"

"That's right.. I'll kick some Zanpakuto ass now that I've gotta my skill back up to par… guess all of us Vizards laxed off too much over the past hundred years or so, huh Love?" Hiyori said, looking over at one of her fellow Vizards, to which she received a nod. " "I achieved Bankai in three days, so I think I can handle things on my own… and so can this orange hair moron of mine"

"I'll choose to ignore that comment for now, snaggletooth" Ichigo said back to her with a slight smirk. ""Let's get going… we'll split up in a minute when we reach the entrance to caves I can see from here. Move"

They all gave a nod and flash stepped and in Uryu's caseHirenkyaku, to the entrance of the caves in the mountain. After telling everyone to be careful and a quick hand squeeze with Hiyori, Ichigo was left alone with Isane, when everyone one else headed through one of numerous paths inside the cave.

"Are you ready Captain Kurosaki?" Isane asked, looking from the cavern path they would take, over to Ichigo. "We should get going if were going find Muramasa"

"Yeah, I'm ready Isane…and call me Ichigo, not Captain Kurosaki… I like my friends calling me by my name, regardless of the situation" Ichigo replied with a small smile. "Let's go"

Isane smiled back before they began running down the carved out walls of the passageway.

"Isane, since I'm not the best at sensing Reishi. Other then people I've been around a lot like Hiyori, Chad, Rukia and a few others, I'll be counting you to tell me if we run into anyone before we spot them" Ichigo said as he ran beside Isane. "Alright?"

"I wont let you down Ichigo" Isane said firmly, sharpening her will to focus on the task at hand. "I should probably inform you of my abilites as well.. So you know what I can do in a battle"

"Good idea…so besides healing kido what are you good at?" Ichigo asked ,looking forward as they ran.

"In addition to having the Shikai release of my Zanpakuto, Itegumo, I can use various Kido spells for healing purposes, as well as binding and damaging enemies, and flash step at high level" Isane said, thinking to careful articulate her words, knowing Ichigo wasn't the most up to date on terms for Soul Reaper techniques. " I can also locate individuals if I know their spiritual pressure signatures and can communicate to others over vast distances"

"Sounds like you have a lot of good abilites Isane, guess I'll be counting on you in battle" Ichigo said, as they slowed down to turn a corner.

"It's only fair to inform you that although my kido abilites are fairly good, my zanjutsu isn't really the best… I was promoted to the Lieutenant of Squad 4 for my healing capabilities and Kido…not sword play. Though I know how to use Shikai, I don't know any of Itegumo's abilites…. I'm afraid I've neglected the most important part of a Soul Reaper's tools"

"Just do the best you can Isane, we can get someone to help you train in zanjutsu after we deal with this Zanpakuto situation" Ichigo said, as they came to another split in the passage way ,with two paths. "Um… which one should we take?"

" You shouldn't sell your sell short Isane… I doubt you were made Lieutenant just because you could heal well.. It's because you're a strong Soul Reaper who deserved it.. You should be more confident of your own abilites…"Ichigo replied, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword on his back. "In any case… You tell me which passage we should take…see if you can sense any spirit pressure that you don't recognize and which way it's coming from"

"Just a moment Ichigo…" Isane said, blushing as she smiled and concentrated for a moment. "I sense strong spirit energy nearby… down the left path.."

With only a nod, they carefully made there way down the passage before encountering a fragile looking female with long brown hair wearing a white kimono, purple hakama, yellow obi, and two large bells attached to a pick sash tied to her.

"Huh?…who are you…Soul Reapers?…" The girls asked, wiping sweat from her forehead. "I won't fight you….so go on and do what ever it is you're here for…I couldn't stop you if I tried, with my current power level.."

"You don't looking so good…are you ok?" Ichigo asked walking up to the small girl who was sitting on a large rock. "You look sick…"

"Not that it is of any concern of yours.. I am not sick…" The girl said puffing out her cheeks. "I'm afraid it's worse then that….I'm dying… and soon I'll simply fade away without any anchor to keep me here, though considering the circumstances, that's to be expected"

"Dying?...and what do you mean circumstances?" Ichigo asked, kneeling next to the girl, while Isane stood nearby. "What happened?"

"Not that it should be of any of your concern.. My wielder, the Soul Reaper Momo Hinamori…. was killed a while back by that bastard Aizen" The girl said, looking down. "When a Soul Reaper is killed, their Zanpakuto should fade and be reborn as part of another Soul Reaper some day, possibly the same person"

"Don't take this wrong, but how are you here now then?" Ichigo asked, trying to be sympathetic.

"I'm…I'm not too certain…maybe it's because Muramasa used his ability on me…or maybe I'm just lucky.. Or unlucky.. Whichever you would call it" The girls said sighing. "I…I wish this didn't have to happen…. I wanna be a Zanpakuto again.. with a Soul Reaper wielding me…"

Ichigo thought about the situation carefully, wanting to do something to help her. After a minute inspiration struck, and couldn't help but grin at why he didn't think of the idea sooner.

"How would you feel if I told you a know a girl who has a lot of spirit energy, wants to be Soul Reaper, but is a human and thus alive" Ichigo asked, surprising the girl.

"Um…I… how does that help me?" The girl responded, unsure of his thought process.

"I originally became a Soul Reaper when Rukia Kuchiki game me her powers to save her, myself and my family from hollows in the world of the living" Ichigo said, still grinning. "You can bond yourself and your powers with this girl, who's name is Tatsuki and make her into a Soul Reaper…"

"Ichigo…I'm not sure Captain Yamamoto would approve of such a thing…" Isane said ,clasping her hands together. "It's not that I don't care what happens to this Zanpakuto, it's just I don't wish there to be any trouble for you, or your human friend you wish you pair this Zanpakuto with"

"Doesn't matter.. I'm not gonna let this girl die, because the old man has a issue with it…besides, it' not like a Soul Reaper is transferring their powers to Tatsuki, it's a Zanpakuto bonding with a spiritually aware individual and letting them use their powers" Ichigo said, stubbornly. "Of course that depends on what you want to do miss.. It's up to you, I won't force anything on you of course"

"I… I'm not sure what to respond with.. This is very sudden.." The girl said, not looking Ichigo in the face. "I appreciate your idea...but I need time to think of this.."

"Of course…this would need to wait till after I dealt with Muramasa anyways" Ichigo said patting the girl on her head. "You stay here and conserve your energy….I promise I'll be back as soon as I can, miss" … and I always keep my promises"

"Tobiume" The girls said, folding her arms. "My name is Tobiume…"

"Alright then, I'll be back as soon as I kick the ass of the vampire wannabe Muramasa" Ichigo said, walking away from her. "Till then, keep safe, Tobiume"

Tobiume had the decency to blush at him, while trying to maintain her dignity as Ichigo and Isane ran off.

"Be careful!" Tobiume called to Ichigo and Isane. "Katen Kyokotsu are nearby…and their both powerful!"

Ichigo gave nod before flash stepping away with Isane, down the passage until they reached a large open cavern and they both felt high spirit energy. Looking up, they saw two women standing at the far end on descending stairs that had been carved into the rock.

"Greetings Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki…" Said the taller women as she opened her eyes. "A pleasure to meet you at last"

The women speaking was tall with purple hair done in two corkscrew pigtails , a eye patch, a bizarre skull hair piece, and clothing resembling a courtesan that was low cut at the top , exposing a good deal of her well endowed chest. The second girl on the other hand, was shorter with short purple hair that cover one of her eyes, and wore ninja like garb with tight shorts, knee socks, a hip length red coat that was fashioned with a purple sash at her waist.

Though both of the women were different is almost everyway, they held identical katanas in one hand at waist level. Ichigo and Isane watched the two carefully as they walked forward a few feet.

"You know my name, but who are you two suppose to be?" Ichigo asked calmly in a voice that echoed through the cavern. "I know your Zanpakuto … but that's it… so will you ladies introduce yourself?"

"It is nice to see a respectable gentlemen for a change…" The tall bust women said with a smile. " A excellent change of pace from our former wielder.."

"As for who we are, I will be happy to answer you" The women said continuing. "We, are Katen Kyokotsu…..and formerly were the dual Zanpakuto of the Captain of Squad 8, Shunsui Kyoraku"

"I see…we'll I have no wish to fight either of you" Ichigo said, calmly, and keeping his Zanpakuto on his back. "Any chance you'll just let me and Isane pass by without resorting to fighting?"

"If it were solely up to me then I would prefer to have you either stay here and have a drink with me or pass on by without fighting…." The taller half of Katen Kyokotsu said, with smile. "Unfortunately for all of us here, having a drink or letting you pass on, is out of the question. You have my apologies, Ichigo Kurosaki"

"I see…though I'm not fond of the idea of fighting a woman...or women in this case… it seems I have no choice in the matter" Ichigo said, pulling Zangetsu off of his back and letting the cloth that was around it fall away and shrink. "Ok….Isane… can you provide back.. In whatever way you can?"

"Of course Ichigo" Isane siad, narrowing her eyebrows in determination. "I might not be a zanjutsu master, and more skilled with using kido, but I can fight when I need to. I'll have your back Ichigo, I already promised myself and Captain Unohana that I would"

"Right, then get ready Isane, Zangetsu" Ichigo said, holding his Zanpakuto in both hands ina defensive postion. "Bring it on, Katen Kyokatsu…"

"Of course…although I perfer to relax over fighting… refusing to fight an opponant would be rude" the taller spirit said, holding out her sword. "Are you ready, to assist me against these Soul Reapers?"

The shorter girl nodded and held out her sword before crouching in narrowing her eyes at Ichigo and Isane.

"Although this can be done wordlessly… I have come to appreciate Kyoraku's need for flashy events" The taller half of Katen Kyokatsu stated as she made a cross pattern be holding her sword against her shorter counterpart's. " Flower wind rage and flower god roar…. Heavenly wind rage and heavenly demon sneer"

With a grin, the two katanas glowed and changed shape untill they resembled huge nearly identical Chinese stlye scimitars with silver edges to the black blades and red tassles hanging off the end of the hilts. It should be mentioned that the shorter girl's sword was identical to her taller counterpart, except the blade was shorter in length.

Not waisting anymore time the short half of the Zanpakuto shot at Ichigo at deadly speed slashing her sword at his momentarily widened his eyes as ghe quickly reacted and brought Zangetsu up to block the sword, sending sparks flying. Not missing a beat, The girl dropped down low and tried to sweep his legs out from under him ,only for him to jump and swung his over sized cleaver like sword down at her. The girl narrowed her eyes as she brought her sword up and blocked it, getting pushed back slightly.

"I must admit… Ichigo Kurosaki is quite agile and skilled for someone so young" The taller half of Katen Kyokatsu remarked, looking over at Isane. "So what about you? You're the lieutenant of squad 4, so you must be skilled to a degree, correct?… care to show me what you can do, or will you simply stay there and watch?"

"I might not have as much spirit pressure as Ichigo, although very few probably could, and I work primarily as a healer…" Isane said trailing off as she unsheathed her Zanpakuto. "..but I promised I would give it my all, and I do know how to weild a sword"

"A good and confident answer for a lieutenant…now lets see how you fight" The tall women said, dashing forward with her sword in hand. ""Good luck"

"I might not be able to release Itegumo right now, but will not back down" Isane said, steeling her resolve and dashing forward to meet in the middle.

Katen Kyokatsu and Isane's sword met with a clack of metal and struggled against each other momentarily before pushing each other back a few feet. Isane held out her hand and fired level 31 Hado Shakkaho to try and catch her opponent off guard. Katen Kyokotsu smiled slightly and defelcted the attack with the broad side of her sword, sending it off to one side.

"Good try, though you're a hundred years to early to do any real damage to me with that" The women said, as she jumped back and spun around at hight speeds like a top. "Bushogoma!"

Katen Kyokotsu stopped spinning, sending a small tornado of spiritual pressure enhanced wind at Isane. Isane's eyes widened asshe dove out of the way, rolling to one side.

Isane wasted no time in strieking back, by jumping back a few feet and concentrating carefully.

"Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro!" Isane yelled, sending 6 beams of yellow energy at Katen Kyokotsu who dodged them, though Isane wasted no time. "Cold winds blow across the sky, causing frost to form on the ground. The right hand of fate ripples your destiny,twisting and changing in a never ending rain of cold sorrow. Move and become one, your hounds of hell! Time stands still as tomorrow never comes, having giving into the cold of eternity! Hado 82 Hyoga Seiran!"

Ichigo who was busy dealing with the aggressive shorter half of Katen Kyokatsu saw an enormous wave of cold icy air, shoot out of Isane's hands and was heading in his direction. He unleasheda Getsuga Tenshou at his opponent and flash stepped out of the way and landed over by a slightly panting Isane.

After the icy air disapated, the taller half of the Zanpakuto spirit appeared aways away from them.

"That was truly impressive and worthy of the power of a lieutenant" Katen Kyokotsu, said breathing out icy air. "No wonder Unohana always speaks so highly of you when ever she speaks with Kyoraku..however that said, other then a few small areas of ice on my attire, you missed your target. Such a waste of so much spiritual energy"

"Not really… "huff".. you…were not my target, miss Katen Kyokatsu" Isane said, swallowing a small pill with a skull imprinted on it. "Look at your partner"

Both Ichigo and the women looked behind the spirit and were shocked to see the shorter half of Katen Kyokatsu half frozen up to her waist as well as her left arm up to her shoulder. The girl was growling slightly in frustration as she struggled against the ice and tried to reach her sword which was lying on the ground just out of reach.

"It looks like I half to alter my previous statement…" The taller half of Katen Kyokatsu stated with a raised eyebrow.

"So what happens now?..are you gonna fight both of us? Or will you back down and let us pass?" Ichigo asked, gripping his Zanpakuto tightly in both hands. "It's your choice...so make it before I make it for you"

"Part of me would like to test your skills as a captain of the 13 court squads… however… I' much more prefer to simply relax and drink some sake…" Kyokatsu said, with smile. "Oh well… we can't always do what we like…. So I must fight you, to keep you from advancing any further"

"Fine.. Then no holding back… Isane. You did good.. But I need you to step back a ways…" Ichigo said, with his eyes glowing bluish white. "This might get bumpy"

Isane flash stepped out of the way and moments later Ichigo held out his Zanpakuto and and let his spritual energy rise dramatically.

"Bankai" Ichigo said calmly, letting his spiritual energy explode, making Isane sweat and struggle to remain standing. " Tensa Gangetsu"

"Ichigo… your Zanpakuto looks… slightly different from what I remember seeing" Isane commented with curiosity as she kept an eye on the smaller half of the Zanpakuto spirit.

"Your right… the blade looks slightly curved at the end…" Ichigo said, glancing down at his sword. ".. The chain on the hilt is also really long instead of being only a few inches… No time to worry about that now though…. Getsuga Tenshou"

Meanwhile in another part of the mountian, in another passage Hiyori and the squad 11 guy with a blond mohawk and sunglasses on. They hadn't seen anything for some time and Hiyori was becoming bored. She was also getting pissed at her partner since he kept spouting how amazing squad 11 was and how strong he was… as well as how strong his captain was.

"…..And then captain Zaraki lept forward slaying at least 20 hollows at once!" The squad 11 member said with a grin. "Then he turn and said-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU STUPID MOHAWK WEARING, PENCIED DICKED MOTHER FUCKER!" Hiyori screamed, barring her teeth. "I didn't care 5 minutes ago.. And I don't care now! Zaraki can suck my non-existent dick for all I care!"

"Hey!, who do you think you are, talking about the great Captain Zaraki like that! You stupid little bi-" The blond man started ,but was cut off by several things that happened very quickly.

A glowing blushies colored vine like object shot forward at her and the blond squad 11 member at high speed and Hiyori noticed it ,while sensing strong spirit energy. Thinking that she could both shut the annoying man up and keep his idiot ass out of danger, she jumped up several feet into the air as she did a spinning kick that sent the man flying into the cavern wall. She then back flipped out of the way herself drawing her sword from the sheth on her back mid flip. This all happened within a matter of moments and was followed by a clapping as she landed, sword drawn.

"I must say.. That was beautiful, truly beautiful" said a condescending male voice. "Even for some one as ugly as you"

"And just who the fuck are you suppose to be, captain feathers?" Hiyori asked, eyeing him cautiously. "Or did you just go and rob some poor bird of his feathers for fun… and was this before or after you got "busy" with said bird, you fruit cake?"

"You are an iritating little girl to say the least…" The man said, shaking his head. "In any case, however, I won't let you ruin my good mood with your foulness"

"Whatever, but you didn't answer my question, dick head" Hiyori said, lowering her sword slightly. "So who the fuck are you?"

"Not only are you ugly and rude…but you also very impatient" The man replied, sighing. "My name is Ruri'iro Kujaku and I was the former Zanpakuto of Yumichika Ayasegawa from squad 11"

"I see… well I'm the Lieutenat of squad 5, Hiyori Sarugaki…." Hiyori said with a devilish grin. "… and I'm here to kick your ass and go find the freak better known as Muramasa"

"Really now? Is that what you think?" Ruri'iro Kujaku asked, folding his arms. "Truly stupid…. Do you really think you can pass by me unscathed?"

"Giving that you're a pansy, feather wearing bitch, and I'm a captain class power ranked, lieutenant and Vizard, I'd say that's a safe bet" Hiyori said smugly. "If your stupid enough to wanna fight though, by all means. I'd love to chop of your ugly mug with my Kubiriki Orochi"

"I see.. Well I'll enjoy cutting off your sarcastic, fowl mouthed head and perhaps nail it to the wall of the squad 11 barracks" Ruri'iro Kujaku said, materializing a sword in one hand. "Bring it on, your stupid little bitch and I'll show the beauty of my techniques"

"Grrrrr….. Chop off this fuckwad's head! Kubiriki Orochi!" Hiyori screeched, as her Zanpakuto changed shape. "Suikawari!"

Hiyori flash stepped out of sight reappearing above Ruri'iro Kujaku holding her sword in both hands above her head. She crashed down at him, trying to use her Suikawari attack, only to miss due to Ruri'iro Kujaku dashing out the way. Instead, she came crashing down with huge force and split a large boulder that Ruri'iro Kujaku had been standing on moments ago, in two.

"Not bad, even if you did miss in just a ugly way" Ruri'iro Kujaku said, grinning. " Let me show you a glimpse of my power…Now bloom for me…"

Ruri'iro Kujaku's sword became the same strange multi bladed scythe like weapon that Yumichika wielded ashe grinned at Hiyori. He slashed at her, as sh jumped back, though he managed to tear the sleeve of her track outfit's coat sleeve.

"Grrr… you toar my jacket, you asshole!" Hiyori growled, leaping at him as she swung her sword sideways at Ruri'iro Kujaku. "Just stand still and die already!"

Her sword clanked against her opponent's sword, as she tried to push him back. Sparks flew as he puuled back suddenly, causing the two swords to slide against each other as they separated. Ruri'iro Kujaku pushed off of the ground behind himself and caught her off guard due to his speed and sliced into her shoulder, sending blood spraying.

Hiyori brought her foot up and forcing her spiritual energy into her leg, jumped kicked at him kicking him in his face. Hiyoir landed , and held her shoulder that was in pain as she toar off the ragged part of her sleeve making a makshift bandage to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, Ruri'iro Kujaku pulled his hand away from his face to see the blood that was coming from his nose.

"You little bitch! Ruining my perfect face!" Ruri'iro Kujaku yelled, gripping his sword tightly. "My only consolation is that I injured you as well!"

"Shut up you asshole! If you ask me, a broken nose makes you look less girly!" Hiyori yelled back, grinning. "Now then.. I gotta move this along… Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu!"

Hiyori sent out several waves of wind that slashed through the surrounding rock walls as Ruri'iro Kujaku tried to run out of the way. He received numorous cuts and gashes along his arms, and chest as he came to a stop after the wind attacks stopped.

"You rotten little bitch! No more playing around!" Ruri'iro Kujaku yelled , barring his teeth. " This is the true form of my sword form… that few have ever seen!"

"Oh really? Is it of a bunch of pretty pink flowers?" Hiyori asked mockingly, with a grin.

"You won't be lughing ina minute… though it's funny you should say..flowers" Ruri'iro Kujaku said,holding his sword out "Tear in frenzy!"

As Hiyori watched in interest, Ruri'iro Kujaku's sword blades transformed into peacock featherlike vines that shot out at Hiyori. She used flash step to avoid the vines that tried to grab her, making Ruri'iro Kujaku more and more frustrated as she avoided his vines. Every so often Hiyori would appear and do a rude gesture at him suck as stick out her tongue and pull her eye lid down or appear bent over and tell him to kiss her ass.

"Damn you!.. Try out running this!" Ruri'iro Kujaku yelled in frustration. "Koujou Shime!"

A mass of energy vines shot out at Hiyori, who did her best to avoid them, once again. However, despite her impressive speed, one vine got lucky and grabbed her wrist mid jump, causing her to trip, and numorous more vines wrapped around her limbs and tiny body. She spit and swore wildly as the vines tightened and Ruri'iro Kujaku grinned in satisfaction.

"I swear if this goes anywhere near hentai tentacle rape I will cut off all of your limps one by oen nad feed them to you!" Hiyori yelled, flaring her spiritual pressure wildly. "You hear me, you perverted feathered assbag?!"

"It appears that your mind is as ugly as your face…" Ruri'iro Kujaku said ,sneering . "As if I would ever do such a ugly thing as that. This is my true power instead of the bastardized power that my former wielder uses"

"Let go of me and I'll show you power!" Hiyori growled , her eyes glowing with spiritual energy. "So drop me now…. Or be prepared to feel pain and fear beyond your comprehension"

"Not likely, little girl" Ruri'iro Kujaku replied. " I have the ability to absorb Reishi from those I trap in my vines. I can either take a little to heal my wounds, refill my energy and disable an opponent.. Or… I can suck them dry of all of their Reishi and kill them, Hahaha"

"Oh really?…. Well your not the only one with power here" Hiyori said as the irises of her eyes became golden and the white became black. "So shall I carve you into pieces? Or only disable you?"

"Your eyes …and that Reishi… it's like… like a hollows!" Ruri'iro Kujaku replied wideeyed. "What are you?…"

"Me?… I'm a Vizard…" Hiyori said as a white skull-like mask begin to form on her head that was pushed up to a side angle. "Ready to have some fun, mister feathered pervert?"

Hiyori's spritual energy spiked and she broke through the vines on her wrists letting her use her sword to cut through most of the remaining ones to free herself. The remaining vines released themselves and returned to Ruri'iro Kujaku's sword, while the spirit in question was wide-eyed and angry at what was transpiring.

"So… ready or not.." Hiyori said, reaching up and pulling her skull mask over her face. "Here we come"

Hiyori flash stepped out of sight reappearing behind Ruri'iro Kujaku with her sword held up to the front of his neck. Ruri'iro Kujaku gritted his teeth, before shootinga energy vine at her that shot from out his Zanpakuto around to where Hiyori was. Cursing out loud, Hiyori had no choice to abandon her advantage and flash step out of the way to place out danger.

"Not bad…guess I actually have to try here" Hiyori said, talking in a double voice that sounded like two people speaking simultaneously. " So shall I carve you like a turkey? Or will you surrender now?"

"I don't know what you are.. But I refuse to surrender to a weakling freak like you!" Ruri'iro Kujaku replied angrily. "I'm going to be the one who carves you to pieces! Just you wait!"

"Sorry, but I can't give you that time" Hiyori said, flash stepping out of sight once again.

She reappeared beside him and slashed at him with her enormous Zanpakuto, before quickly disappearing again. Ruri'iro Kujaku tried hitting her with his sword only to hit air, and was caught off guard as Hiyori slash stepped behind him swinging her sword at his back ,leaving a long wide gash on his back. As he yelled out in pain Hiyori moved faster, stopping and disappearing quickly as she left dozens of cuts and gashes on his body, leaving him bleeding from the multiple places after she finally stopped a few minutes later.

"So..any last words?.." Hiyori asked appearing in front of a now bleeding and crouching Ruri'iro Kujaku with her sword pushed against his neck. "Maybe a reason why I shouldn't cleave of your head?"

"Perhaps I can give you a reason, lieutenant Sarugaki" said a feminine male voice. "If you care to listen that is"

"Huh?…oh it's you, the pretty boy from squad 11" Hiyori said, letting her mask shatter and dissapear. "Let me guess. You're the owner of this moron"

"Hmp...indeed I am" The Soul Reaper said, in a calm manner. "My name by the way, is Yumichika… not pretty boy. I mean I'm deeply flatter that an ugly girl like you can recognize my beauty and all but-"

"Don't care… but you can have this bleeding idiot if you want, I have things to do, other people to kill" Hiyori said, letting her sword reseal itself before placing it back in her sheath. "Well, see you around and you can have your useless squad 11 member back too"

"Indeed, im sure you other ugly things to do… so farewell" Yumichika replied, walking over to his defeated zanpaktou spirit. " As for you..that was a ugly loss..even if it was inevitable…loosing toa ugly person isn't fun, but she was the superior opponent here, so it was inevitable.."

"Now then… you better be just fine, Ichigo" Hiyori said out loud as she dashed out of the area, and further into the mountain's corridors.

As for Ichigo?.. He-

"Were taking a break till the next chapter thank you" Katen Kyokatsu said interrupting, and sitting on the ground drinking tea with Ichgio. "We'll resume our battle next time…which will hopefull be sooner then it took this time… not that it was all your fault..but even so"

"What she said I guess" Ichigo agreed, nodding. "We'll fight again next chapter, so keep reading"

Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter… my computer was acting up and my replacment power supply died.. Making me have to try and get refund and order a new one.. It took a long time to get this done, but I'm going to continue with the story , computer problems be damned. Anyways, please read, review and most importantly, enjoy it. See you soon.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 46

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

As Hiyori was leaving her battle, Ichigo was battling elsewhere with the taller incarnation of Katen Kyokotsu. The tall women grabbed the released sword that her partner had been using prior to being subdued and swung them at Ichigo, one at a time, in a diagonal slashing pattern. Ichigo dodged the first slash and the brought his sword up to block the second one, sending sparks flying as the blades slid against each other.

"Your fairly fast, aren't you, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Katen Kyokotsu, said with a grin, as she pulled back. "I have heard you are very fast, especially in Bankai form.. Please show me just how fast you are"

"Your funeral" Ichigo replied, appearing behind her and swinging his sword sideways at Katen Kyokotsu.

"I'll save you a front row seat next to me" She replied with a wink, before disappearing from sight.

Ichigo looked around not seeing her though he remained as calm as possible and wished he could better sense Reishi then he could at the moment. He suddenly felt a sharp pain and glanced back as Katen Kyokotsu rose out of his shadow on the ground, slashing at his back as she did.

"That… was Kageoni" Katen Kyokotsu, said as Ichigo flash-stepped out of the way to avoid further injury. "I am aware that hurt and although I do apologize, I can not let you defeat me"

"Damn it" Ichigo said in frustration as he crouched slightly. "I should be faster then you"

"Speed is not everything, Ichigo Kurosaki… there is a also technique and experience…" Katen Kyokotsu replied, flinging the blood of her blade. "Though you are strong, fast and have defeated powerful opponents… I have been the Zanpakuto of Captain Kyoraku for several hundred years now… and in the end experience counts much more"

"Ichigo, let me heal your wounds" Isane said, flash-stepping by him. "You need medical attention"

"No time… besides, I can't afford to fail here.. And I wont!" Ichigo said, standing up, and gripping Zangetsu tightly. "She may have more experience then me.. But I'll still beat her…. because my resolve is stronger!"

Ichigo flash-stepped away reappearing beside Katen Kyokotsu, swinging sideways, and disappearing from sight only to reappear behind her stabbing his sword forward. She managed to react fast enough to stop him from stabbing her through her back, but not fast enough to prevent Ichigo from stabbing her though her shoulder. Katen Kyokotsu winced in pain as Ichigo yanked his Zanpakuto out and jumped back a few feet ,sliding slightly .

"Sorry.. But I can't afford to hold back" Ichigo, said flooding his Zanpakuto with his dense and visible spirit energy. "GETSUGA.. TENSHOU!"

Katen Kyokotsu eyes widened a bit as she moved out of the way, landing clear of the massive wave of black and red energy that shook the cavern.

_If he keeps this up ,the integrity of the cavern could be in jeopardy. _Katen Kyokotsu, thought to herself. _If so, that could be bad for Muramasa and his plans… Perhaps drawing him away?.. No, he is determined to go after Muramasa, he would only advance further into the tunnels instead of following me…_

"Your too slow!" Ichigo yelled, appearing above Katen Kyokotsu. "Getsuga… Chi-doragon-sho!"

The dragon shaped wave of energy smashed downward, shaking the cavern and billowing smoke around. Katen Kyokotsu was sent rolling across the floor where she managed to right herself eventually. Ichigo was angry and it showed…his eyes were golden yellow, and his teeth bared as he gripped his sword.

"I'll admit.. That hurt.." Katen Kyokotsu said, as she stood somewhat shakily. "It's been a while since someone gave me such a fight.. But I'm far from finished"

"Bushogoma!" Katen Kyokotsu yelled, sending a large tornado of wind at Ichigo. "I hope your fast enough to dodge that"

"Damn it!" Ichigo yelled, jumping into the air. "I hope this works.. Tenburenjin!"

Both Isane and Katen Kyokotsu watched in surprise as Ichigo rapidly and continuously slashed his sword in every direction around , above and below him. He slashed through the tornado of wind until it vanished and he landed on the ground, unscathed.

"How's that, Katen Kyokotsu" Ichigo asked, gripping his Zanpakuto by the chain hanging of the handle and swinging it around quickly like a helicopter blade. " Was that fast enough?"

"My my… you are full of surprises" Katen Kyokotsu replied with a smile. "So what happens now?"

"You have two choices… use your Bankai and hope it's strong enough to defeat me, or let me and Isane pass" Ichigo replied, grabbing his sword by the handle and ending the spinning. "So what's your choice?"

"It seems I have little choice in the matter, don't I?" Katen Kyokotsu with a grin. "You may pass"

"Wait ..what?" Ichigo asked confused., as he kept his guard up. "What do you mean your letting us pass?"

"It means just you think it does.. You may pass" Katen Kyokotsu answered, producing a floor cushion from who knows where and sitting on it. " If I used my Bankai I have no doubt I could defeat you.. But it would destroy this mountain side and that would put Muramasa as well as the other Zanpakuto inside at risk… I'd rather not risk that"

"Um.. Ok?" Ichigo asked in a unsure voice. "How do I know I can believe you?"

"You don't…. although you take that risk with everyone, whether you trust them or not" Katen Kyokotsu replied, sighing. " "If you truly wish to continue fighting then so be it.. Or you can move on...it's up to you"

"Damn it… fine ,but if you interfere again, I won't be holding back ,understand?" Ichigo asked, narrowing his eyes. "That's a promise by the way, not a threat.. Come on Isane, lets go"

"Um.. Ok Ichigo" Isane replied, watching the two Zanpakuto sprits closely. "I'll heal you as we go"

Isane healed Ichigo and restored his spiritual energy as they left the cavern, leaving the two Zanpakuto spirits there alone.

"So, what did you think of the orange haired Soul Reaper Captain?" Katen Kyokotsu asked her shorter counterpart as she freed her.

"…"

"No need to be shy, what do you think of him?" The Zanpakuto asked again, with a small smile.

"…cute" The short Zanpakuto spirit replied in a slightly muffled tone through her face mask. "Interesting…"

"My thoughts exactly" The taller counterpart said, sitting back down and pulling a bottle out of her robe. "Saki?"

Meanwhile Ichigo and Isane continued their run through the cavern when out of nowhere they heard a calm voice speak.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura"

A large pink mass of tiny blade fragments appeared and shot at Ichigo and Isane at high speed, forcing Isane to cease the healing progress. Ichigo used his Tenburenjin technique to block every single one of the tiny blades resembling falling cherry blossoms before they could ever even get close to him or Isane.

"Byakuya?.. What the hell… what are you doing here attacking me?!" Ichigo demanded looking up at a high up cliff over looking the area he and Isane had ran into. " Muramasa? Your with Muramasa? You fucking traitor! How could someone who's so much into that honor, law following shit and serving the thirteen court guard squads betray them?!"

"You…could not comprehend my reasons boy.. Even if I explained them to you" Byakuya said, as his Zanpakuto spirit materialized beside him and Muramasa. " I will ask you only once to leave now. Or die by my blade"

"I will defeat Muramasa and end this…. and I'll strike down anyone who gets in my way.. Even you" Ichigo said, pointing his Zanpakuto at Byakuya. "I might ..no it will hurt.. crush Rukia if I have to kill you.. But to save the Soul Society I'll do whatever's necessary"

"I see.. Is that the case Ichigo Kurosaki? how wonderful" Muramasa said, speaking up for the first time. "I still have use of you so I hope you keep living.. If you excuse me, I have things to do elsewhere in this mountain.. If you would be so kind Byakuya?"

"Of course, I'll be glad to put him in his place" Byakuya said gripping his sword readily.

"Master.. I owe this ..degenerate… a rematch from our first battle on Sokyoku hill" Senbonzakura said, stepping forward. "May I?"

"…fine.. You may try if you wish.. we will go and assist Muramasa with Captain Yamamoto when you are done" Byakuya exclaimed turning abruptly and sheathing his sword before walking off to one side. "Good luck.. Do not disappoint me"

"Do you really think you can beat me Senbonzakura? I only lost last time due to ..minor difficulties.. But I'm far stronger now and I'll destroy you easily" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes at him. "You won't stand a chance…and did he say Captain Yamamoto?"

"Worry about the here and now boy" the Zanpakuto spirit replied raising his sword. " Bankai…Scatter Senbonzakura Kageyoshi"

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled, unleashing a large, black wave of energy that stayed attached to his blade.

The large mass of pink blade fragments and black energy met and clashed violently as both wielder tried to over power the other. Ichigo poured more and more spirit energy into the Getsuga and began pushing back the pink mass. Senbonzakura felt the strain as he tried to keep pushing back, and found his feet slide back as he did.

_Damn it!.. He didn't have this much power the first time ma and my master faced him. _Senbonzakura thought to himself as he was forced backwards. _Just how much power does this boy have?!_

Ichigo roared and with one final push of power, managed to knock Senbonzakura back and counter all of the tiny pink blades. Ichigo wasted no time and unleashed another power Getsuga Tenshou at Senbonzakura hitting nearly full on if not for a last second shield of pink blade fragments that protected him from the blunt of the attack.

"You.. You insolent child.. I'm going to put you in your place" Senbonzakura said, touching his face mask and feeling that is was cracked. "Damn it"

"Told you I was stronger" Ichigo said, holding his sword in front of him angled to one side. "Give up yet?"

"Never .. Honor demands I defeat you to pay you back for shattering me in my sword form during your fight against my master here" The Zanpakuto spirit replied, growling slightly. "I will show you my power and prove that the win you and your girlfriend achieved was a false win"

"Enough talking.." Ichigo said, flash stepping out of view.

Seconds later Ichigo reappeared behind Senbonzakura and cut a shallow gash in his back through his samurai like armor. He yelled in pain and spun around sending the pink blades of his Bankai where Ichigo was only to hit air.

"Wanna play that way, do we?" Senbonzakura said in low voice as he concentrated. "Gokei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi "

A large mass of the pink tiny blade fragments surrounded Senbonzakura like a shield that blocked Ichigo as he continuously swung his sword and flash stepped out of sight only to reappear miliseconds later to swing again. This continued for almost a minute or so before Ichigo appeared about five feet away from Senbonzakura, holding his sword defensively.

"As you can see, my defense is impenetrable" Senbonzakura sneered. "Why don't _you_ give up?"

"Not likely, asshole.. I just need to steop it up a notch..you ready partners?" Ichigo asked as he swiped his hand down across his face making his white and red striped Vizard mask appear. "Let's go"

"Ichigo?" Isane exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Is…is that you?"

"Isane… I know I look strange, but this isn't what you might think.. This is a Hollow mask, but I'm still a Soul Reaper.. Who has the powers an mask of a Hollow" Ichigo explained in his overlaping voices. "I know you've heard of Vizards since the old man declared that they were absolved of all crimes… thisi sthe first you've seen a Vizard In person though huh?…"

"I..it is the first I've seen it in person, yes" Isane replied, trying to reclaim her calmness. "You've done nothing but good al the time I've know you..so I guess I'll have to trust that everything's ok and.. That I still have your back"

"Right.. Cause I do have your back, Isane" Ichigo said, nodding while keeping his gaze locked on Senbonzakura. "Just stay a safe distance"

Isane nodded and retreated back a ways, while Ichigo unleashed a large amount of his black and red spiritual pressure around him. It slowed around hinm like a fire and engulfed his Zanpakuto that he held tightly. In a flash, he was upclose and personal with Senbonzakura and swung his sword downward, cutting into his shoulder so fast, Senbonzakura had no time to react. Ichigo attempted this again only to Senbonzakura's left side, only this time he reacted fast enough and managed to block with his sword.

Ichigo flash-stepped out of sight again and unleashed a large black and red Getsuga Chi-doragon-sho from above Senbonzakura. He managed to hold it off with a shield of his sword's pink sword fragments, and then shot a stream of them at Ichigo in retaliation. Ichigo, slashed through the stream a few times and jumped backwards, zigzagging as he did to avoid it.

Senbonzakura raised his bladeless sword handle and called back the swarm of blade fragments to him. As he did, Ichigo appeared by him and slammed the handle of his Zanpakuto into Senbonzakura's face, breaking his mask further and sending him back a ways into the cave wall behind him. Ichigo then appeared in front of him and thrust his sword forward at his chest, only to be stopped by the pink blade fragments, though it wasn't Senbonzakura who sent them this time.

"Enough"

"Byakuya?…"

"Master?"

"We have work to do, if we are to save the head captain.. And stop Muramasa" Byakuya stated calmly called back the fragments into sword form as he slid the sword into it's sheath.

Ichigo was in front of Byakuya in a instant and cold cocked him square in his face, knocking his face to one side. He then grabbed him by the front of his shihakusho and pulled him forward, sneering at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ichigo yelled in Byakuya's face. "First you betray us and start working with the enemy.. And now your suddenly not? I want to know what it is you know and what's going on.. Now!"

Byakuya calmy pulled his shihakusho out of Ichigo's grasp and dusted himself off, before looking at him.

"It is quite simple really… I remember hearing the name Muramasa somewhere before.. And I went looking in Kuchiki family records to see if it was important…" Byakuya said, glancing over at the spirit of his Zanpakuto. " After carefully looking through the records I discovered where I remembered the name from…"

"I remember my grandfather mentioning the name before. .and the same with my father… both of them spoke of discuss and told me to never ask about it" Byakuya continued, looking back at Ichigo. "Most of the information was missing.. Possibly destroyed…but I was able to ascertain that Muramasa was the name of a Zanpakuto weilded by a member of the Kuchiki clan"

"A member of your family?.. Any ideas who?" Ichigo asked, forgetting his anger for the moment.

"Unfortunetly.. I do not know the individual's first name.. only that he was a Kuchiki and that he was not to be spoken of" Byakuya replied, turning away. "Now then..we have work to do…such as saving the head captain…"

"This isn't over…. But for now…fine …lead the way…." Ichigo grumbled, looking over at Isane. "Come on Isane…let's move"

Senbonzakura glared at Ichigo as the small group made their way forward through the cavern till they reached a large door shaped opening and Byakuya came to a stop.

"Sense they no doubt are aware of our presense, I suggest you all prepare yourselves" Byakuya said, as he look forward, with his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "As soon as we open the door, act at once… find the head Captain.. And myself and Senbonzakura will hold off the Zanpakuto spirits..agreed?"

"I was hoping to wait for the others to get here… but I guess it doesn't matter.. They'll have to catch up" Ichigo said, glancing over at Isane. "You ready Isane?"

Isane nodded and readied her Zanpakuto, gulping as she did.

As soon as Byakuya opened the door, Ichigo flash stepped inside ready to fight, and saw nothing. They cautiously moved forward through the large chamber and heard some noise making them react quickly, only to discover that two only Zanpakuto were there, both apparently channeling energy into a fiery shield surrounding the missing head captain.

"Hey, it's the old man!" Ichigo shouted, alerting the Zanpakuto much to the others annoyance. "Get away from him!"

"Oh really? And just what make you think you can do anything about it if they don't, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Said the distinct voice of Muramasa, who had appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Muramasa!.. I figured we'd find your ugly ass here" Said a female voice from nearby, getting Ichigo's attention. "Oh, hey dumbass.. Good to see you and your orange hair are in one piece… not that I doubted you or anything.. But you are young, so…"

"Oh bite me Hiyori….. Good to see you too though snaggletooth" Ichigo said with a small grin. "You ready to kick this vampire wannabe's ass, and get the old man out of here?"

"Damn straight… I've been wanting a challenge…" Hiyori replied, grining back as she grabbed her Zanpakuto . "Butcher this mother fucker, Kubikiri Orochi!"

"Hiyori, keep this fuckwad busy while I free the old man" Ichigo said, racing forward at the two Zanpakuto guarding Yamamoto. "Either move, or you two die!"

The two Zanpkuto looked at the orange haired teen running at them, and grinned before eagerly awaiting Ichigo's attack.

Meanwhile, Soifon and her group of Stealth Force members were tracking a Zanpakuto and followed it as it came to a stop. The Zanpakuto was strange with a box like object on his back anda long pike in his hand. Soifon wasted no time and used flash step to dash forward and swing her Zanpakuto at him.

Somehow he knew of the attack and blocked it with his pike and pushed her back, before getting into a defensive postion.

"Not bad" Soifon remarked, with slight grin. "But not good enough to defeat the commander of the stealth force"

"Maybe. Maybe not…" The Zanpakuto who was named Gonryomaru replied. "But I have things to do..so fairwell miss"

Gonryomaru fled from the area, and Soifon gave chase along with her Stealth Force members.

"Get back here and fight you coward!" Soifon proclaimed, as the chased led to the rooftops. "Your mine"

Soifon used flash step to appear in front of him and did a spinning kick, sending him off the roof and through a nearby wall.

"Never underestimate the power of the Stealth Force" Soifon said, landing and looking down at where she kicked the Zanpakuto. "Hard to believe you belong to the Lieutenant of squad 1, given how pathetic you are"

"Fire" A deep voice said out of nowhere, right before a large stream of fire shot out at Soifon, who narrowly dodged it.

"What? Another Zanpakuto?" Soifon remarked angrily. "Figures. Guess this will be more challenging then before.. Not harder, just more challenging… stealth force members, you all stand down and leave them to me.…"

"But commander thoes two are-"

"Do not question your commander.. I know they are both strong, which is precisely why you can not interfere" Soifon replied to the Stealth Force member. "You can not possible deal with these two.. They are far beyond your level and you will only get in my way. So you will all leave, now"

"Yes ma'am!" cried out the Stealth Force members with her, before vanishing.

"Now then" Soifon said, looking at her opponents. "Lets continue, gentlemen.. As weak and unchallenging as you both are"

"Oh yeah? Then taste this challenge" Gonryomaru yelled, challenging lighting through his pike and sending it shooting at Soifon. "I'll show you the might of the east!"

"And I'll show you the might of squad 2 you fool" Soifon said, flash stepping in front of him and slashing at him.

Gonryomaru tried to use his equally quick speed to avoid the hit, bit still got slash across his arm before he could either dodge or block.

"Not bad, for one so young" Gonryomaru said, holding the small wound. "But I've been around for far longer then you.. And so had my friend Tenken here"

Tenken brought down an enormous sword at Soifon who, dodged at he last minute. The sword chopped through he building behind where Soifon had been, causing smoke and debris to go flying every which way.

"Hado 31, Shakkaho, red flame cannon!"

A large red beam of energy hit Tenken in his hand, making him yell in pain, while Soifon looked for the source of the attacker. Standing on another rooftop was Lieutenant Hisagi , holding his Zanpakuto in one hand while Love Aikawa was next to him silent.

"Need a hand, Captin Soifon?" Shuhei asked, jumping over near her. "Three against two are better odds"

"Hmm as if I require any assistance.." Soifon said, huffing slightly. "However… I suppose one must make use of all the available resources in order to win a battle"

"Then let's get things started yo" Love said, with a grin. "Slam, Tengumaru!"

"Fine, Tenken.. Lets show these Soul Reapers a fight they won't forget" Gonryomaru proclaimed, looking up at his fellow Zanpakuto as he held out his pike.

Needless to say, fierce battles in two places were about to begin … and will continue.. Next time.

"Next time? Haven't we ..or rather readers already waited long enough?" Soifon asked, angrily. "Why wait longer?"

"Because I said so, Soifon…deal with with it" The narrator(me) said, narrowing his eyes. "Just go visit Yoruichi during the break or something"

"Soifon?...huh…guess she really wanted to visit Yoruichi…" Shuhei remarked.

"Well… sorry for the long ass wait.. I've been busy, and haven't been in the mood to write as well. I'm going to finish this story though, so no worries. If there are any spelling errors I missed ,please ignore them, I'm fairly sure I checked it well enough and used spell check too… So please read, enjoy and review…


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 47

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Ichigo raced towards the two Zanpakuto spirits holding Tensa Zangetsu at a angle and powering it up with heavy black and red spirit energy. He readied his aim directly at the two spirits that were in front of the head Captain, who was held within a large energy shield.

"Take this !" Ichigo yelled, as he jumped up a several feet in the air and swung his sword in a diagonal cutting motion. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

A large, crescent shaped wave of heavy spirit energy shot down at the two Zanpakuto spirits, hitting them dead center and knocking them several feet back in a painful way. Ichigo landed next to the head captain and raised his sword.

"I'll have you out of there in a moment, old man" Ichigo said, summoning a large part of his spirit energy. "Getsuga, Chi-doragon-sho!"

Muramasa grinned as he is easily held Hiyori at bay as she quickly and repeatedly struck at him, blade meeting blade. As soon as Ichigo's attack hit the shield, it shattered and erupted in a huge explosion that obscured the view with billowing red smoke. Muramasa disappeared from Hiyori's view, reappearing by the now free head captain with his hand out stretched.

Only moments after Muramasa appeared next to the captain, Ichigo raced to stop him, but was too late and a heavy inferno of flame erupted around Ichigo, the head captain and Muramasa. A enormous half sphere of flame formed around them causing Muramasa to grin.

"Sorry, but I have to be going Head captain and Captain Kurosaki" Muramasa said, stepping back towards the flame. "I'll be sure to shed a tear for your deaths though… farewell"

Before Ichigo stop him, Muramasa moved outside the flames through a small tear that opened for him and then quickly closed. Ichigo sent several Getsuga Tenshou's at the fire wall, hoping to disrupt it but it had little if any effect frustrating him greatly.

"It is no use, Captain Kurosaki" Head Captain Yamamoto said, sighing. "That fire is the Shikai form of my Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka…it's fires will turn all that touch it to ashes"

"Then how the hell am I suppose to get us out of here?!" Ichigo yelled, balling his hands into fists. "We have to stop Muramasa from whatever it is he's going to do now"

"Agreed.. However.. Yelling will solve nothing and is unbecoming behavior of one of the captains of the 13 court guard squads" Yamamoto said, glancing his Ichigo's direction. "All hope is not lost yet.. So do not give up so easily, just because the solution eludes you.. Think carefully and calmly… and the answer will present itself"

"…sigh.. Right… ok.. What do I know?.. The only way to defeat a being of high spirit energy … is to use higher spirit energy!" Ichigo said grinning after thinking for a moment. "Like my battle again Kenpachi. Weaker spirit energy bows to higher spirit energy… so if I can use an attack with high enough spirit energy, I should be able to break through the flames, right?"

"Very good captain.. Do you have such an attack on hand though?" Yamamoto inquired, sitting down. "If not, then I suggest speaking with your Zanpakuto on this manner.. And make it fast.. For the flames will eventually kill you, burn to ashes.. if you do not act fast.. For that is the nature of Ryujin Jakka"

"Sounds fun… I'm going to talk to Zangetsu now.. I'll be back as soon as possible though" Ichigo said sitting down to perform Jinzin by placing his sword on his lap as he turned it back to Shikai form. "Here we go…"

Not long after Ichigo began meditation, he found himself in his familiar inner world of skyscrapers.

"Hey there king.. Welcome back" Ichigo's inner hollow said with his usual evil grin. "Come for more power hey?"

"I need to get out of the inferno and stop Muramasa.. You and Zangetsu both know that" Ichigo said, looking over at him. "So what can I do?"

"There is a way of course" Zangetsu said, appearing out of nowhere, standing on the hilt of a sword. "It is a technique of sorts.. Hopefully, it will help you achieve your goal"

"Couldn't agree more ,old man.." The hollow said, laughing. "An attack will do more damage if you know it's name.. and giving an attack a name will equally have a noticeable affect on a attack"

"So… what do I do?" Ichigo asked looking between Zangetsu and his inner hollow. "And can we make it fast? I don't have much time"

"Don't be in so much of a rush Ichigo.. Time passes differently in here… 5 minutes of time passing outside will give us more then enough time to deal with the problem" His inner hollow said, slapping Ichigo on his back roughly. "Though that said ,.. We should get started right away…. I don't feel like getting burned away by the fire outside after all"

"Indeed… now then...this technique will allow you to focus enormous portion of your spiritual energy.. Ina similar way to your Getsuga Tenshou.. But not the same at the same time.." Zangetsu said in confusing manner. " You will focus your energy and release it all around you in a shockwave like a pattern that will do great damage and will be far reaching"

"A shock wave of energy?" Ichigo asked, pulling his Zanpakuto of off his back. "So it's like Getsuga Tenshou… then how do I make my energy direct it's self away from me in a shockwave form instead of a single high density beam like Getsuga?"

"Much like any technique we've taught you… it requires practice to master…" Zangetsu said, disappearing from his perch on a sword and appearing in front of Ichigo. "In the short time we have you will not be able to master it.. But you will learn it enough.. And we will make up for that lack of practice when you use it to escape"

"Well then Zangetsu.. And hollow.. Lets get stared already" Ichigo said with a grin. "Um.. What do we do first?"

Zangetsu looked at Ichigo silently for a moment before finally saying "First you pay attention…"

Only around 7 minutes had passed, when Ichigo opened his eyes, a looked over at the head captain.

"I can break through the fire of your Zanpakuto… but there is a risk to you" Ichigo said holding his sword out in front of him with one hand. "You could be injured.. And even if not.. I won't be able to get you out of here with me.."

"Do what you must, Captain Kurosaki…. Even if I am some how injured, it is inconsequential compared to the safety of the Soul Society" Yamamoto stated calmly. "Do as you must.. And do it quickly"

"Right" Ichigo said, as he reactivated his Bankai and jumped into the air, standing there in mid air. " Here we go… ARRRRRRRR!"

Ichigo roared as he gathered his spiritual energy to around him, compressing it into his sword. He concentrated, using the visualization technique Ganju had showed him. He followed the instructions of Zangetsu and his inner hollow precisely, gather as much of his spirit energy as he could using the technique.

"_Ichigo? Do you remember the visualization technique you learned ?" Zangetsu asked him. "That is the key for this attack"_

"_Of course I remember.. Draw a circle as black, as possible as heavy as possible and imagine jumping into it" Ichigo quoted almost perfectly. "I'm ready so what's next?"_

"_Do that technique and focus as much of that spirit energy as you can king.. To your breaking point" his inner hollow replied. "Do that.. And focus… and then.." _

"..and then unleash it while bringing your sword down, stabbing it into the ground…" Ichigo said out loud. "Ok… just a little more.. Focus all of my spirit energy and now imagine the heavy black circle in my mind…"

Moments later, Yamamoto felt intense heavy spiritual energy building and looked up at Ichigo.

"Such spiritual energy….I dare say it's even more then I could muster…" Yamamoto said in a quiet tone. "Not to mention he's far better at controlling his large spiritual energy then his father ever has…nor is he as idiotic as Isshin was"

Suddenly, Ichigo jumped as close to the flames above him and then shot down at high speed at the ground beneath him, stabbing his Zanpakuto into the ground and unleashing a enormous, thick wave of spiritual energy. The wave of energy was heavy and spread fast in all directions, making the Head Captain sweat slightly as the wave hit him. The wave hit the fire of Ryujin Jakka and the fire dimmed and dispersed part of the way momentarily.. Long enough for Ichigo to use Flash-step to get through the opening. Ichigo shot through, sliding across the ground, scrapping the palm of his right hand, making it bleed as he came to stop. He picked up his sword that had falling out of his grip and winced at the pain of his bleeding hand holding the grip of his sword.

"Damn.. That hurt… fuck…." Ichigo said, standing up. "Hiyori? Where are you?"

"Captain Kurosaki" A female voice said to Ichigo's right, making him look that way. "Hiyori's gone"

"Isane?…what do you mean she's gone? Where is she?" Ichigo asked in confusion. "and.. Um ..do you need help with ..is that a bee girl?"

"Hey.. I'm a hornet.. I mean I'm Suzumebachi" The tiny hornet girl said angrily. "I was the Zanpakuto of the cat obsessed Soifon"

"Um… hi… Uh.. Where did Hiyori go?" Ichigo asked starring at the tiny Zanpakuto spirit flying around. "I had her distract Muramasa for me.. And ..did she chase him or something?"

"Um yes sir.. Muramasa said he had other things to attend to and he ran off" Isane confirmed. "The lieutenant ran after him"

"Figures.. She such a little hot head, of course she ran after him" Ichigo said shaking his head. "I need to go after her and the vampire guy… you stay here and-"

"Ichigo!"

"Huh?…Rukia?" Ichigo asked seeing the short raven haired soul reaper flash step near him. "Your suppose to be resting.. In the world of the living.. What are you doing here?"

"You know I'm not some frail little human that needs rescuing all the time… I'm well enough to fight too damn it" Rukia said, kicking Ichigo in his back. "Let's go help your girlfriend and stop that Muramasa guy instead of waiting time.. I swear …without a pushy girl to keep you focused on stuff, your mind just wanders"

"You make it sound like I'm useless, you stupid midget!" Ichigo said yelled back. "Let's just go already ok?!"

"Right" Rukia said, as she and Ichigo flash stepped out of the area.

"Hey!.. Stupid Ichigo…" Suzumebachi said, crossing her arms. "Guess I'll fight you again, giant girl"

"Giant girl?….. I wish I was shorter!" Isane said, with anime tears.

Meanwhile.. In the world of the living in the town of Karakura, Muramasa appeared with Hiyori in hot pursuit. He quickly made his way to the forest outside the city and came to a stop, dodging Hiyori's Zanpakuto as it swung near his face.

"Your quite persistent little girl" Muramasa said ,materializing a sword in his hand. "If I were you… I'd leave me alone"

"Well if I were you then I'd tell me to kiss my ass cause I…you? Grrr. Shut up, ass monkey!" Hiyori screeched. "I'm gonna kick your ass.. And then Ichigo is gonna kick your ass after he get's here!"

"Go away.. I'm here for my master" Muramasa said turning away from her. "I don't have time to deal with noisy children"

"Why you… lets go, Kubikiri Orochi" Hiyori said, as her sword transformed into it's saw bladed clever form. "Time to carve me some vampire meat"

"So foolish…" Muramasa said, shooting out invisible spiritual energy threads at Hiyori wrapping them around her arm and yanking her forward and slamming her into several small trees.

Hiyori coughed up blood she slammed thought trees and rolled across the ground before stumbling to her feet.

"That fucking hurt.. "Cough"…" Hiyori said, wiping blood off of her mouth. "How about I-"

"-let me give you a hand, my former lieutenant" Urahara said appearing out of nowhere and cutting the invisible strings off of Hiyori.

"Who said I needed your help, you dumbass" Hiyori asked growling. "… just don't get in my way"

"Fair enough" Urahara said, holding out his sword cane Zanpakuto. "Awaken, Benihime"

"Yet more interference….how irritating" Muramasa said, in a annoyed tone. " But it sill not stop me when I am so close to seeing my master again"

"Your master? Guess that's gonna have to wait I'm afraid" Urahara said in a serious tone. "Try this instead"

Urahara slashed his sword through the air and sent an arc of blood red energy towards Muramasa at high speed. Muramasa narrowed his eyes and unleashed several hollows that he had previously absorbed. The arc of energy hit and destroyed a few of the hollows and the ones that weren't hit, jumped at Urahara and Hiyori . Urahara calmly slashed through the hollows with his sword while Hiyori wildly cut through them, trying get as many as she could so she could back to Muramasa.

"Kind of like old times, eh Hiyori?" Urahara said with a laugh as cut down the final hollows.

"I think your hat is on too tight. We never fought side by side ,your moron" Hiyori snarled as usual. "If we did, you'd probably screw up somehow and let me do all the work anyways!"

"Don't be like that.. " Urahara said with a small grin as he landed next her. "In any case… it appears your boyfriend is near.. Better make sure your makeup is ok"

"Ichigo?… my make up is fine so shut- Wait.. I don't wear any make up you ass cracker!" Hiyori yelled, kicking Urahara in his side. "Ichigo, just get your ass down here already.. I can sense your spiritual, pressure near by too"

No sooner then she said that, Ichigo appear, landing in a crouch next to Hiyori and Urahara.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to deal with a pain in he ass fire type Zanpakuto…" Ichigo said ,sighing. "By the way,. what the hell are you doing here Urahara? Who manning the shop?"

"Tessai of course.. Besides .. One, Yoruichi is here too… and two, we have more important things to worry about.. Such as Muramasa here" Urahara said, tilting his head in Muramasa's direction.

"You… Ichigo Kurosaki… you should still be trapped…" Muramasa said, narrowing his eyes. "I had hoped you would be unable to escape …Especially considering I haven't yet had enough time to awaken my master"

"Well I can't say I'm sorry to hear that" Ichigo said ,pointing his sword at Muramasa. "The only question now is… are you gonna give up.. Or keep fighting a loosing battle?"

"I've had enough of your interference, Ichigo Kurosaki…" Muramasa said glaring. "I will show you power…release…."

More then a dozen of powerful Gillian class Menos Grande's shot out of Muramasa who yelled in pain as they did. As soon as they were all out, Muramasa seemed to disappear in the crowd.

"Ichigo.. You and Hiyori go after Muramasa.. We'll deal with these" Urahara said with a wink. "Won't we Yoruichi?"

"Yoruichi?.. Is she here?" Ichigo asked, confused. "Where?"

"Right here, my young friend" Yoruichi said, appearing beside him with a grin. "Did you miss me?"

"Um…you know what.. You can save why you're here till later.. Hiyori, lets go!" Ichigo said, flash stepping away, trying to find Muramasa.

"Yeah, yeah.. Wait up moron!" Hiyori said flash-stepping after him.

"Well then.. Lady's first?" Urahara said, gesturing towards the group of Menos. "Or should I?"

"No need.. But you might wanna watch out.. You know how dangerous Shunko is" Yoruichi said, making Urahara back up a fair distance. " Here we go….Shunko!"

Meanwhile, Muramasa appeared at last at his destination, on a small island, while his eyes bleed from overusing his powers. He quickly neared a large tree and uttered the chant to release his long imprisoned master as he felt two powerful Reishi signatures nearing him.

"Though I'm impressed you found me so fast.. I'm afraid your too late" Muramasa said, coughing. "Awaken, master Koga!"

Ichigo and Hiyori looked up to see the tree fade away and reveal a strange black coffin, floating in the air. The coffin crackled with energy and cracks began to form on it's surface, as Ichigo, Hiyori and Muramasa watched. Muramasa's eyes glowed and the coffin exploded in beam of bright yellow energy, with Ichigo, shielding Hiyori from bits of wood splinters that flew from the coffin. Once the light faded, the withered body of a man was visable and he floated down to the ground, opening his eyes upon reaching it.

"Master Koga" Muramasa exclaimed slowly wwalking up to his master. "I have finally released you after being unable to for so long"

No sooner then Muramasa had finished speaking, then Koga grinned and stabbed Muramasa through with a Zanpakuto he held in one hand. This of course left all present in shock as Koga removed the sword and kicked the injured Muranasa away, to the ground.

"You have some nerv, Muramasa.." Koga said, glaring at his Zanpakuto's spirit. "First you ignore me allow me to be captured.. And now you free me, expecting I'll welcome you back so easily"

"Master… why?" Muramasa asked holding his injury. "I did not ignore you master.."

"Don't bother lying to me.. you are nothing more then a tool to me.. And a useless one at that" Muramasa said glaring. "You are useless… and thus do not deserve to remain in my presence.. Good bye, you failure"

Muramasa was about to kill Muramasa with his sword, when two blades blocked him, much to the surprise of both Koga and Muramasa. There blocking him was both Ichigo and Hiyori, who both wore expressions of anger on their faces.

"You son of bitch!" Hiyori yelled angerly, "What gives you the right to say something like that!?"

"A Zanpakuto is not a tool! It's your partner!" Ichigo yelled, as soon as Hiyori finished. And they both jumped back, pulling Muramasa with them "It's part of you and you should trust him or her so they can trust you and work together!"

"Getsuga…/Haipa-Kaze…"

"Tenshou!/Tenkuu!"

Ichigo and Hiyori unleashed their devastating attacks from their Zanpakuto's simultaneously at the wide-eyed Koga. The attacks somehow combined in a unexpected way, creating a black and red colored energy wave that shredded everything including the ground at it's edge as it raced at Koga. Though Koga was aunprepared for the enormous assult, he manged to escape the majority of the attack.

When Koga landed he had to immediately dodge another attack, this one a large crimson beam of energy.

"Nice work. There.. Dodging a fatal attack from my Benihime" Urahara sadi, with a slight grin, before becing serious. "But you wont be able to dodge them all… Kamisori, Benihime!"

Another beam of red energy shout at Koga from Urahara's sword only to run into yet another obstacle, this one in the form of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Who are you… wait.. To wear the Kenseikan and that scarf…. You are from the Kuchiki clan.. Who are you?" Koga demanded, as Ichigo and Hiyori appeared near Byakuya.

"I am Byakuya Kuchiki.. The 28th head of the Kuchiki clan" Byakuya said in a calm voice. "Captain Kurosaki, Leiutenant Sarugaki.. Though your assitence has been helpful.. This is a Kuchiki clan problem now.. This is Koga Kuchiki, a former 3rd seat of squad 6 who married into our clan long ago"

"What? This our fight, you stuck up asshole!" Hiyori growled . "Get out of my way or I'll chop your balls off!"

"Ichigo, Hiyori" Urahara said interrupting her. "We have our own issue to deal with at the moment"

"What are you talking abo-oh.. well that's not good" Ichigo said looking at where Urahara was pointing. "Why do things keep getting more and more complicated?"

Muramasa was shaking and leaking out huge doses of black colored Reishi that transformed into more and more hollows. Hiyori and Ichigo looked at Urahara and gave him a look of get back, which he understood and flash-stepped away from them. The two of them, summoned their incredible sprit energy that was very dense and visible.. Ichigo's black and red, Hiyori's black with dark blue energy.

"Bankai!" They both yelled, transforming both their uniforms and weapons into Bankai form.

They wasted not time in acting, with Ichigo heading towards Muramasa to try and stop him for releasing any more hollows, while Hiyori began tearing through the hollows with her twin Kusarigamas grinning like a mad women.

At the same time, Byakuya was facing off against Koga, who was doing fairly well, consider how long he had been sealed. Koga was savage in his attacks, slashing laft and right without stop as Byakuya blocked the strikes with his Zanpakuto. He hated to admit it, but Koga was strong opponent and was pushing him back with every strike. Koga used high speed flash step to suddenly move away a distance and unleashed a power kido spell. Although Byakua easily managed to dodge the attack, Koga used the instince in Byakua focusing on the front of him to get in close with high speed and swing his sword at Byakuya's neck before he could block him.

Just as the blade was about to hit it's mark, the black blade of Ichigo blocked it and he not only blocked Koga's attack, but he also, kocked him away, sending him rolling across the ground.

"I did not need your assistance, Ichigo Kurosaki" Byakusacomment as he turned quickly. "This is Kuchiki business that you are interfering with.. You will no thanks from me"

"Bite me, Byakuya" Ichigo said, wordlessly unleashing a large Getsuga Tensho at Koga as he stumbled to his feet. "Your taking too long and this is a problem for the entire Soul Society, not just your stuck up family…so deal with it"

"Who are you?!" Koga demanded as dodged the attack, avoiding most of it and only receiving minor injuries . " Never mind, your in my way…Hado 88, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!"

Ichigo effortlessly block it by flairing his spiritual energy around his Zanpakuto and using it to blcok out the attack. 

"I do not need your assistance, Ichigo Kuroaski" Byakuya said, glaring. "Move aside and let me deal wit this.. Or else I will have no choice but to move you myself"

"Byakuya.. You've always had a difficult time working with others.." Said a voice of an old man from near them. " As for you Koga, I wish I could say it was good to see you again .. But that would be a lie"

The three Soul Reapers, Ichigo, Koga and Byakuya had different reactions to the sudden appearance of a strange old man in a Shihakusho

"Who the hell is this old guy?"

"Grandfather?…"

"Ginrei Kuchiki… you son of a bitch.. Still alive I see"

"Byakuya… even after all this time you still don't like admitting you need help… I had high hopes that your friend Yoruichi would have helped you lighten up a bit… but I guess it will take more work.." Ginrei said, shaking his head. "Now then.. Captain Kurosaki.. Would you be so kind as to assist my grandson, Byakuya in defeating Koga? He is a stain on the Kuchiki clan and needs to be dealt with"

"….. vey well grandfather… this one time I will work with Kurosaki" Byakuya agreed after a few moments of thinking. " But only this one time.. Scatter , Senbonzakura"

Koga just grinned and use his powers to create multiple illusions of himself around Ichigo and Byakuya and manages to catch Byakuya with spiritual threads. However, Ichigo recognized what was going on thanks to his previous fight with Muramasa and cuts through the threads freeing Byakuya. Koga was caught off guard at the sight of Ichigo knowing about and destroying the spritual threads so fast and Byakuya used the momentt of surprise to attack Koga.

Byakuya surrounded Koga with his blade fragments from his released Zanpakuto, closing in the former Soul Reaper. Koga came to his senses an shot his Reishi into Byakuya, causing him to loose focus and allow Koga to flash step out of the impending attack.

"What the hell just happened, Byakuya? You had him" Ichigo asked, as he unleased a wide Getsuga Tensho that Koga barley avoided.

"Koga has the ability to push his spiritual energy into others and control their senses with near perfect control" Byakuya answered with a tone that said he was annoyed. "It was foolish of me to allow myself to be caught like that, even momentarily"

"Oh.. So just like Muramasa then.. Makes sense I guess" Ichigo said, flash-stepping right in front of Koga and swinging his sword at him. " Let's see how you handle me Koga"

"Arrogant fool.. I don't know or care who you are.. " Muramasa said ,meeting his blade against Ichigo's. "… but I will crush you, like everyone else who's crossed my path!"

"Fat chance pal.." Ichigo said , his eyes turning icy blue from spiritual energy. " Try this on for size!"

Ichigo moved at such high speeds around Koga that he appeared to be every where at once, making Koga lash out in frustraion. While Koga slashed through where he though Ichigo was on the ground, Ichigo came down from above, holding his Zanpakuto downward. He hit the ground at high speeds ,thrust his Zanpakuto down, and creating a shockwave of dense spiritual energy, that hit Koga full force, knowing him through several tress and into the water with a large spash.

"Very impressive, Captain Kurosaki.. Very reckless control of your spiritual energy, but impressive none the less" Genrei said from the sidelines as he watched the battles carefully. " The next generation of Soul Reapers is a very interesting one indeed"

"That's my Ichigo for ya.. Doesn't know the meaning of the phrase, "over the top".." Hiyori said fro nearby as she and Urahara took care of the last of the hollows. "Now to deal with Muramasa.. "

"Urahara.. Back me up and deal with any of the rest of the hollows he relaese.. I need to end this and kill him while he's weakened" Hiyori said, summoning her hollow mask and flaring her Reishi around her as she spun one of her Kusarigamas in one hand.

She flash stepped over to Muramasa, holding her weapons tightly in her hands.

"Any last words, Muramasa?" She asked narrowing here yes. "You have 5 seconds"

"Master Koga.. Why?" Muramasa asked breathing hard. "WHY?!"

Hiyori prepared to kill him, when he suddenly screamed , enveloping in heavy red reshi and hundreds of menos class hollows appear as a enormous Garganta opened in the air. Hiyori jumped back, pissed off immensely at the situation.

"Why do things always get more and more out of control?!" She screeched, as she began tearing through the menos. "They just keep coming Urahara, why did a Garganta even appear for anyways?"

"Maybe they were drawn by the intense spiritaul energy, Muramasa is releasing" Urahara repelid as he took began fighting the menos.

"It looks as though you could use a hand you two" said female voice from out of nowhere.

Looking over, Urahara and Hiyori saw the other Vizards, Soifon, and Yoruichi standing there.

"By all mean, Yoruichi.. Just like old time in fact" Urahara said with a grin. "Shall we, ladies and gentlemen?"

The Vizards, including Hiyori, all called apon their hollow mask and began to decimate the Meno army that continued to emerge from the Garganta. Yoruichi and Soifon on the other hand, flash stepped near a closing group of Menos and grinned before raising their spritual pressure.

"Shunko!" They yelled together, destroying numerous Menos in a single strike, before separating and fighting the creatures, one on one.

"Haven't been able to cut loose like this in quite some time, Soifon.. What about you?" Yoruichi asked, doing a Shunko enhanced roundhouse kick, that tore a Menos in half.

"I must admit that it does feel… refreshing.. To not hold back as much as normal against a foe" Soifon said, also destroying a menos with ease.

"I'm with you two, feels good to let loose" said the hollow mask wearing Vizard, Love. "Even better then reading Shonen Jump manga.. Am I right, Rose?"

"How would I know that, Love.. As we keep telling you, you never let us read your copy of the manga magazine" Rose, said shking his head as he pulled out his Zanpakuto. "Play, Arpeggio"

He fliped through the air, using his released Zanpakuto in whip form to slash through a Menos several times until it dissolved away. Another meno's behind him fired aCero at him and he siply turned and held up a hand, firing a far more powerful Cero of his own, pushing the Meno's attack back until he destroyed the creature.

"How rude… interrupting my conversation with Love like that" Rose said, a bored tone. "Such simple creatures, Menos…"

"That's for sure.. Annoying little bastards" Lisa said, using Sonido to appear near Rose and Love. " How the hell do we close the Garganta to stop the flow of Menos class hollows?"

"They are coming from the body of Muramasa… which leaves 2 logical choices to take care of the situation" Rukia said, flash stepping near them said, frowning. "Destroy Muramasa.. Which might prove to be more touble then it's worth… or wait for Ichigo and my brother, Byakuya to take care of Koga"

"If you mean kill him, then that will be difficult…" Soifon said, looking over at the nearby battle of Ichigo and Byakuya against the resuracted Koga. "As you know, Rukia Kuchiki…Ichigo does not like the idea of killing.. Even if it is necessary.."

"Why not?" Lisa asked, slightly confused.

"Because he's the type of person who values life, and the idea of ending another's life is not something he's fond of" Yoruichi answered, folding her arms. "We'll have to trust in him to do what is right .. We have Menos to deal with at the moment and can't afford to let our guard down… let's go Soifon"

Meanwhile, back with Ichigo, Koga and Byakuya….

The three of them were locked in intense combat. Ichigo ducked under Koga's rm, with ease, using his Bankai enhanced speed, and punched him in the back of the head, using a on the fly, experimental technique, where he pushed his spiritual energy into his fist, in a way that was similar to when he charged up a Getsuga Tensho. He hit Koga hard, making him stuble slightly, and not wasting any time, Ichigo swung his Zanpakuto upward, diagonally, slashing him across is chest and making blood splatter out. Byakuya gave Koga no change to recover and sent his Shikai release of the tiny pink blade fragments at Muramasa in a thin, fast stream. Myramasa manages to dodge the majority of the attack, and counter it with a attack of his own.

"Hado 73, Soren Sokatsui!" Koga yelled, sending a hugh blast of lightning everygy at Byakuya and the quickly pointing his hand at Ichigo. "Hado 32, Okasen"

Ichigo easily moved out of the way with little effort, and sent a Getsuga, Chi-doragon-sho attack at Koga, while Byakuya simultaneously dropped his sword and activated his Bankai.

"This is Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.. The instrument of your death Koga Kuchiki " Byakuya calmly said, as giant blades rose from the ground in a row and he glanced in Ichigo's direction. "Guard yourself, Ichigo Kurosaki… Now scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi"

The giant blades shattered into tiny blade fragments and fromed a giant masss of pink that shot at Koga with fierce speed . Koga moved about with flash-step, creating illusions of himself in order to confuse Byakuya's blades

"You cannot hit me…when you do not know which is the real me… Byakuya Kuchiki" said the illusions, finishing each other's words without any pause.

"You are clearly unaware of my Zanpakuto…" Byakuya a said, give Ichigo a small nod who in turn jumped back behind Byakuya, charging up his spirit energy in his sword when he landed. "Senkei"

The blade fragments formed a dome of a 4 rows of pink, glowing swords around Byakuya, Ichigo and Koga. Byakuya held out his hand, and a blade, shot down to his hand, changing into the regular look of Zanpakuto. He released the sword in blade fragments that swirled around Koga carving into him at various points, and do major damage.

"What is this?.. Is this your Bankai?" Koga demanded, glancing around as he tried to avoid the attacks.

"Indeed. This is the true form of my Senbonzakura Kageyoshi…and it is not something to take lightly" Byakuya said with a small, rare smile. "Just ask Ichigo Kurosaki of it's strength.. For he and his lieutenant are the only ones to have fought against my Bankai in it's true form and live to talk about it"

"You won't win this Koga.." Ichigo said, as he held his Zanpakuto that was literally and visibly on fire with heavy black and red spiritual energy. "Your Zanpakuto, Muramasa has enough damnge to the Soul Society and people we care about…. Which means you need to disappear.. Permanently"

"Agreed, Ichigo Kurosaki…Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro" Byakuya said, hold out his hand and firing a kido spell, that sent several beams of yellow energy at Koga, trapping him. "Bakudo 63, Sajo Sabaku"

"Impossible .. I am Koga Kuchiki! The most powerful Soul Reaper ever!" Koga snarled out loud, thrashing against the two kido spells. "Release me you worms! Relase me so I can punish you for your arrogenace!"

"You… a stain of the Kuchiki clan.. And the Soul Society as a whole… your death will help wipe clean, the stain of your name and actions, Koga" Byakuya said, holding out his Zanpakudo in front of him as he absorbed the fragemnst of all of his pink glowing sword around them. " Use your strongest attack at the same moment I do, Kurosaki"

Ichigo flash stepped into the air above Koga, at beyond unbelievable speeds, holding onto his Zanpakuto upside down, while he aimed, it's blade directly over Koga's head. He gathered his Spritual energy, his whole body and sword on fire with his thick red and black colored energy.

"This strike will end it all… any last words?" Byakuya asked, as his spiritual energy created wing like forms, emanating from his blade. "Answer now or die silently.."

"Fuck you Byakuya Kuchiki.. I curse you and the rest of the Kuchiki clan to the depths of hell!" Koga screamed in intense rage.

"Interesting choice of last words.…" Byakuya said, nodding to Ichigo as he readied his final attack. "Good bye, Koga Kuchiki"

"Shukei: Hakuteiken/ Kokuryu Gatotsu!"

Ichigo plunged his Spiritual energy heavy Zanpakuto downward at incredible speeds while Byakuya flew forward with his sword directly aimed at Koga. Both attacks hit with in seconds of one another, creatinga massave explosion of intense spirit energy that was felt like shockwave by everyone in the immediate area. The dust that was created by the dual attack, cleared and relveaed a mortally injusted Koga, laying in the center of the smoke. His body begins to slowly denigrate into spirit particles as Byakuya deactivates his Bankai, allowing everyone else to see the results.

Muramasas , who is still resonating dark spirit energy, turns his head towards his now dying master.

"Master… I did all of this for you…. And yet.. I ntyhe ends you didn't even answer em whe ni called you… just like .. Before you were sealed" Muramasa groaned, as he lay there.

Ichigo flash-stepped beside Muramasa and kneeled down by him.

I'm sure.. That he was just too stuborn to lsiten to you… but that was his loss… a Soul Reaper and a Zanpakuto are partners for life.. " Ichigo said, with a worried expression. "Not all Soul Reapers think of Zanpakuto's like tools.. I think of Zangetsu and my hollow as my partners.. Even if we didn't understand each other at first"

"You are so unusual.. Ichigo Kurosaki… I almost wish I had been born as your Zanpakuto instead" Koga said ,coughing up blood. "Too bad… who knows.. Maybe ill come back as the Zanpakuto of someone like you"

"I hope that you do Muramasa.. Good luck" Ichigo said, honestly, while standing up.

Muramsasa faded away, relveaing a Zanpakuto that floated above the ground for a few moments before falling and shattering.

"It's seems it's over, Ichigo" Yoruichi siad flash-stepping besdie him nad putting hand on his shoulder. Though we still have a lot of Menos to deal with.."

"Then perhaps we can lend a hand" said a voice from above.

Everyoen there, looked up into the sky and saw all of manifested Zanpakuto spirits standing the in the air.

"Let's show them what we can do… I just wish I had tie mto do the lucky dance"

"I want that cutie Ichigo to give me a hug when were done"

"These things are truly ugly.. Exterminating them would bring more beauty to the world"

"Hey Ichigo! It's yor favorite little hornet! "

"Now that I have rediscovered who my master is, I for one am ready to prove myself to him.."

"Enough.. We need to move, destroy the Menos and I will go first… Second dance, Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren"

The other Zanpakuto spirits, not wanting to be shown up by Sode no Shirayuki, wasted no time is unleashing attacks against the army of Menos that stood before them. The Soul Reapers and Vizards present also continued their attack until finally, Ichigo and Hiyori, sliced the last Menos in half in two separate directions at the same time.

"Ha.. I win assholes.. 51 kills!" Hiyori said making a fist.

"Actually that would be me who wins, snaggletooth.. Zangetsu cut into that last Menos before Kubikiri Orochi did" Ichigo said grinning, as he landed on the ground next to his pintsize girlfriend.

"I had 50 kills" Soifon said, landing next to the two of them.. "Or 51 kills, if you count the double kill separately"

"So a three way?" Hiyori asked with a devious grin. "Sounds hot"

"Your insane, Lieutenant" Rukia said shaking her head. "Not to mention perverted"

"How about a 4 way instead?" Asked Rangiku as she flash stepped in front of them. "Im certainly more women then either of them… check look at these babies "

Rangiku was pulling her robe open to reveal her bare breeasts when, Captain Hitugiya appeared in front of her, facing Ichigo, Hiyori, Soifon and Rukia.

"Don't you dare undo your robes , Rangiku" Toshiro said folding his arms. "Or I'll double your paperwork and destroy all of your saki"

"Captain no! please anything but that!" Rangiku begged as her Zanpakuto's spirit, Haineko joined her.

"Yeah, anything but that!" Haineko begged along side her master. "We need our saki!"

"You two are idiots… " Toshiro said , with a tick mark on his faorhead. "You have no idea how lucky you are not having to deal with these two, Ichigo"

"I wish Ichigo would deal with me" Rangiku said licking her lips.

"Me too" Hainiko said, moving using flash-step, so she could slide her rough cat tongue up Ichigo's face. "Mmm you taste good handsome.. Can I have another tast-OUWWWW!"

Everyone looked and Hiyori had bitten Hainako's arm and was growling, before she let go and Hainako ran with Hiyori in hot persuit.

"Perhaps it's me who should be glad I don't have to deal with her" Toshiro said with a small grin. "Come on Rangiku, lets get going"

"Come on Haineko, you can play with Hiyori later" Rangiku said following her captain.

"This isn't over you balloon-chested, slutty cat bitch!" Hiyori growled before rejoining Ichigo and Soifon. "Licking you like that.. Im going to tear off her tongue and choke her with it"

"Yeah! Stay away from him you cat hussy!" Yelled the tiny voice of the equally tiny in size Zanpakuto, Suzumebachi. "Oh… and Ichigo… the Lieutenant of squad 4 wants to see you about the Zanpakuto spirit, Tobiume.. She still at the caves"

"Huh? Oh yeah, thanks, Suzume" Ichigo said patting the tiny Zanpakuto on her head. "We gotta take care of something, Hiyori and fast"

"What about you, Soifon?" Ichigo asked ,looking at her. "Are you gonna come to, or stay here?"

"As much as I would like to assist you.. I will have the duty directing clean up duty here" Soifon said giving Ichigo a quick hug. "I will see both of you later"

"Ok..so I bet you and Rukia wanna know what Suzume meant huh?" Ichigo asked as he, Hiyori and Rukia flashed stepped out of sight. "It started when me and Isane came across this Zanpakuto spirit that was in a lot of pain…."

End of chapter 47.….Finally.. Lol..

That took a while huh? Sorry about that, everyone.. I hope you like this chapter though.. Please read and enjoy and if you would ,please review.. Feedback, good or bad( criticism/hints are helpful, bluntly telling me whats bad and not offering any solutions are not) and reviews of this chapter or any chapter for that manner.. Any questions you may have I'll answer via email if you have a fanfiction account, or at the beginning of the next chapter if you don't have one. See you all soon :D


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 48

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

It had been about one week since the Soul Reapers had defeated the evil, out of control Zanpakuto Muramasa and returned control of the affected Zanpakutos back to their wielders. Afterwards, the head captain issued that everyone take a small vacation to recover before resuming duties and of course Ichigo and Hiyori asked go to the world of the living for their time off. Currently, Ichigo and Hiyori were laying on top of the roof of Ichigo's bed, just laying there chatting about various things.

"Hey Ichigo?" Hiyori said, turning her head towards him. "How do you think you friend karate girl is doing with her training?"

"You mean Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked, meeting her gaze. "Not sure really.. I was thinking about going over to check with Kisuke and Yoruichi today anyways…wanna go now?"

"Sure I guess… nothing else to do.. Except "that" but we've already done that twice today and it's not even 10 o'clock" Hiyori said nonchalantly. "besides, I'm tired out from our last go today and we might as well do something beside hump all day"

"So classy babe… Let's just go to Urahara's" Ichigo said sitting up and getting himself off the bed. " Hopefully everything's going well"

15 minutes later Ichigo and Hiyori arrived at Urahara's shop and outside standing was Urahara himself, holding a small fan in front of his face.

"Why hello there my young friends, what brings you here on this lovely day?" Urahara said with a sly smile and he lifted his hat slightly.

"You know why we're here Urahara.." Ichigo said in a irritated voice. "We wanna see how Tatsuki's doing with the Zanpakuto thing"

"Of course.. Come on in you two.. Tatsuki's with Yoruichi in the training area" Urahara replied, sliding open the front door of his shop and walking inside with them. "I must say.. When you called me and miss Arisawa to the Soul Society on urgent business.. I certainly wasn't expecting what transpired"

"Yeah.. Somehow I didn't think you would be" Ichigo said thinking back.

-"_Flashback_"-

"_So you need me and miss Arisawa to come to the Soul Society immediately?" Urahara asked, after suddenly receiving a call from Ichigo. "Can I ask why exactly?"_

"_It's complicated.. Just meet me and Hiyori at the training cave here, now" Ichigo said over the soul pager. "It's urgent"_

"_Fine.. I'll be there as soon as I can with Miss Arisawa using the emergency Senkaimon that the Head Captain had me recently set up in preparation for the upcoming battle against Aizen" Urahara said, heading to the front door of his shop. "I'll collect miss Arisawa from her training in the basement training area and bring her at once"_

_About 10 minutes later, Urahara and Tatsuki arrived at the training cave that Yoruichi and Urahara had created in their youth. Ichigo, Hiyori and a sort girl that looked weak were waiting for them there._

"_So Ichigo.. What's so urgent?" Tatsuki asked folding her arms._

"_Well… it's like this…" Ichigo said as he explained the situation with the weakened Zanpakuto spirit Tobiume and her predicament. ".. and I figured that Tobiume could become Tatsuki's Zanpakuto since she has high spiritual energy"_

"_Uh.. You do realize what your saying right?" Urahara asked, in disbelief at what Ichigo had said. "You realize the dangers of such a thing.. To both Tobiume and miss Arisawa"_

"_I'll do it!.." Tatsuki said interrupting Urahara. "As long as your ok with me, Tobiume"_

"_I.. don't have much choice do I?" Tobiume said weakly. "Are you sure about this? You could die"_

"_I'm ready.. The whole no pain, no gain thing" Tatsuki said, punching one fist into her other hand. "Besides… If I die, I'll just end up in the Soul Society right?"_

"_Karate girl's got a point.. Not like it would make much difference" Hiyori said in a bored tone. "Just et it over with… I need some sleep"_

"_Alright then.." Tobiume said , manifesting her sword for min her hand and holding it with both hands. "If your ready.. I'll stab you at the center of your spiritual energy with my sword and attempt to transfer my powers into your soul.. Are you ready?"_

"_Let's do it!" Tatsuki said with a grin. "Here comes Soul Reaper Tatsuki Arisawa!"_

_-"End flashback" -_

"Hey! I said snap out of it!" Hiyori said slapping Ichigo with her slipper. "You were spacing out"

"Oh right.. Sorry.. Just thinking back to when Tatsuki first fused with Tobiume" Ichigo said, with a half glare at Hiyori. " Let's just check on her and Tobiume"

Minutes later, Urahara, Ichigo and Hiyori were in the basement training area where Yoruichi was training Tatsuki to use her Zanpakuto.

"Keep a firmer grip on your Zanpakuto Tatsuki" Yoruichi said, holding a sword for the first time in a long time. "Your opponent wont hold back and your sword will be knocked out of your hand if you don't keep a better grip"

"Easier said then done sensei" Tatsuki said breathing hard. " I'm use to hand to hand combat.. But I'll get this. I'm not giving up on it"

"The problem isn't your determination Tatsuki.. It's your way of thinking" Ichigo said, alerting Tatsuki to his presence.

"What are you talking about?" Tatsuki asked, raising any eyebrow at him. "When did you and short stuff even get here anyways?"

"Just now.. But that's not important,, what is.. Is that your using Tobiume there like a tool.. But a Zanpakuto is part of your soul. An extension of it and your powers" Ichigo said in a surprisingly insightful matter. "Tobiume is your partner as a Soul Reaper and you have to trust each other without question or you'll end up like Zaraki.. Being unable to use your Zanpakuto to it's fullest potential"

"Zaraki?"

"Zaraki is the captain of squad 11 of the thirteen court guard squads.. He has no knowledge of his Zanpakuto's name, or abilities.. And you don't want to be like him" Yoruichi explained to Tatsuki. "In any case.. That was surprisingly deep and correct Ichigo… never knew you could be so insightful about things"

"I have my moments…besides I'm not stupid.." Ichigo said folding his arms and sneering at Yoruichi who only grinned in return. "I just listen to my Zanpakuto, Zangetsu"

"For the record, I often ignore my Zanpakuto because most of what she says is something perverted" Hiyori said, shaking her head slightly. "But I do listen to her on using her and her abilites of course"

"Maybe.. I guess I'm not use to fighting with a partner yet" Tatsuki said, hand on hip. "I'll just have to practice.. I've never come across anything I couldn't master yet, and this is no different"

"Good attitude.. Now let's take a 10 minute break and then continue" Yoruichi said, looking over at Ichigo and Yoruichi. "Ichigo, Hiyori… you, me and Urahara are going to chat for a few minutes while Tatsuki meditates.. Understand Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki nodded as she sat down and began meditating while the other went upstairs to talk. They all say down at the small round table in the back of the shop while Ururu served them tea.

"So, Ichigo.. Hiyori.. I take it you came here to check on Tatsuki's progress as a Soul Reaper?" Yoruichi asked taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, pretty much.." Ichigo replied, nodding at her. "So is everything good with her powers?"

"Strange as it may be to believe.. Everything is going very well.." Yoruichi said leaning back. "Never though a Zanpakuto born from the soul of one Soul Reaper would be able to bond so well with another Soul…"

"Yeah.. I'm glad it worked out though.. Could have gone badly.." Ichigo said trailing off. "Old man Yamamoto won't be too happy when he finds out but hopefully she'll prove herself as a Soul Reaper before then"

"You mean against Aizen in the upcoming war?" Hiyori asked as she loudly slurped her tea. "Think she'll be ready for that?"

"I'm not sure.. She is growing as a Soul Reaper at a rapid rate but it's impossible to tell yet" Kisuke said, adding to the discussion. " Especially since we don't know exactly when Aizen will strike… only a vague estimate"

"I just hope that we're all ready for him and his forces" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes. "I can't wait to take that bastard down"

"We'll kick his ass, no problem" Hiyori said with evil grin. "Me and the other Vizards "owe" him a lot and need to "repay" him with a shit load of interest"

"I just wonder one thing… " Urahara asked out loud, looking upwards. " I wonder what Aizen and Gin will do when they finally begins their attack…"

"Hey.. Do you feel heavy spiritual energy?" Hiyori asked, standing up. "It just appeared.. And it feels like it's getting heavier"

"I feel it too Hiyori… and that can't be good" Urahara said in a rare serious tone. "Ichigo.. Hiyori. Go check it out.. And be careful"

"Right" Ichigo said, as he and Hiyori shed their bodies using Gikongon. "Lead the way, Hiyori"

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Karakura town it was relatively peaceful time with the town resident going about their normal lives when suddenly, thick spiritual pressure floods the forest area near a park. A Garganta appeared and a huge explosion occurred making thick dust flood the area. People in the area all looked around coughing, trying to find out what happened when the dust cleared and a small crater was visible where the explosion happened.

In the center of the crater were two individuals, one slim yet slightly muscular man with incredible pale white skin, green cat like eyes, shaggy black hair, and constant frown on his face and most distinctly, a white piece of bone like material that looked like half a horned helmet. To this man's side was a massively tall, muscular man with tan skin, ridge lined skull, though bald he had a long thin pony tail of black hair hanging down his back, strange orange markings under his narrowed eyes and what appeared to be a skull jaw bone covering his chin.

Both men were dress in nearly identical clothing consisting of a white jacket, a white hakama with black sash though the taller one's jacket was open instead of being closed like the shorter pale one man's was.

"Oh man…the spiritual pressure here is so thin compared to Hueco Mundo" The taller man said in a rough voice. "So what are waiting for Ulquiorra ? Lets' find that Soul Reaper and kill him so we can get back"

"Don't be so stupid Yammy" Ulquiorra said in brooding, monotone voice. "We are here to evaluate the Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki to see if he poses a threat to Lord Aizen or not.. Not kill him outright"

"Whatever.. Then can we at least go find him and test him already? I'm getting bored" Yammy said, folding him arms.

"He will come to us… it is only a matter of time" Ulquiorra said, taking a step forward and looking around at the humans looking at what they assumed was a empty crater.

"In that case.. Can I kill some of these humans staring at me?" Yammy asked, griping a sword that hung from his side in a sheath. "Their pissing me off.."

"Just how stupid are you, you fool?" Ulquiorra asked in a irritated tone. "Not only can they not see us, but are orders were to evaluate the Soul Reaper, not to kill worthless humans"

"Who are you?… that spiritual energy.. It's so dense" Said the voice of a young women from nearby. "Why are you here in Karakura?"

Yammy and Ulquiorra looked up and saw a young thin, busty girl with long burnt orange hair standing there wearing the uniform of Karakura high school.

"Who are you, girl?" Ulquiorra asked, looking at her with slight curiosity. "You have enough spiritual energy to see us… though clearly not enough to fight us.. So what purpose do you have being here?"

"I'm.. Orihime Inoue.. And.. Well. I was passing by the area when I felt intense spirit energy nearby" She replied, trying to remain calm. "No answer my questions.. Who are you and why are you here?"

"Are purpose is not of your concern human… though if you can see us, you might pose a snag in our orders" Ulquiorra said in his usual monotone. "Yammy.. This one is trash.. Take care of her"

"Gladly" Yammy said , grinning widely as he cracked his knuckles. "See you later girl"

Before he could connect though, his fist was stopped by Ichigo's Zanpakuto who suddenly appeared using flash-step. Ichigo his the sword so that the blade was facing straight down as Yammy's fist came into contact with it and was stopped mid swing.

"What the?.. Who the heck do you think you are?" Yammy asked in surprise and annoyance.

"I'm the captain of Squad 5 and the one who's gonna to kick your ass for trying to hurt my friend here" Ichigo replied with narrowed eyes and flaring spiritual energy. "My lieutenant is over there where Orihime is now at safe and sound as well.. Even though you didn't ask "

"You little piss ant.. I'm gonna crush you and that blond hair brat!" Yammy roared, pulling back his fist and prepared to attack again.

"Not so fast…" Ichigo said, holding out his sword. "Bankai…. Tensa Zangetsu"

"Wait Yammy" Ulquiorra said stopping his partner. " A black Bankai and orange hair.. Ichigo Kurosaki.. The one we've been sent her for "

"Oh yeah?.. Then let me test him!" Yammy yelled, gathering spiritual energy and drawing back his fist again as he ignored Ulquiorra.

"Hiyori.. His arms gotta go" Ichigo said as he and Hiyori disappeared with flash-step faster then even Ulquiorra could keep up with.

When then reappeared, they were on the other side of Yammy with their Zanpakuto's drawn and dripping with blood as both Yammy's left arm was severed from his body and his right leg was cut deeply nearly in half, in a spray of blood.

"You were to impatient Yammy… his spiritual energy is obviously stronger then yours and they both took you off guard with their blinding speed" Ulquiorra said in a dismissive tone.

"Shut up Ulquiorra!" Yammy growled as he pulled out his own Zanpakuto with his remaining arm. "I'm gonna cut both of them into blood soaked ribbons!"

"Ichigo!" Orihime yelled as she made a transparent shield of energy appear in front of Ichigo, block Yammy's sword. "Hurry get back Ichigo, Hiyori!"

"Shields huh?.. How interesting" Ulquiorra commented as still remained standing still. " Yammy.. We have what we need.. His spiritual energy and power has exceeded out earlier reports.. And I sense another powerful spiritual energy nearby , heading this way.. We should get back and make our report"

"No! you go back!.. I'm going to fucking kill everyone here!" Yammy yelled glancing back at Ulquiorra. "You stay out of this!"

"Perhaps it's you who should stay out of this, Arrancar" said a female belonging to the tanned beauty, Yoruichi as she appeared by Ichigo and Hiyori. "You could barely old up against these two… do you really think you'd stand a chance against three of us?"

Ulquiorra used Sonido to appear by Yammy and spin around on one foot, kicking Yammy back into the crater with tremendous speed and force.

"We're leaving as you wish, Yoruichi Shihoin" Ulquiorra said calmly as he used Sonido again to get back to Yammy and open a Garganta back to Hueco Mundo. " I'll have to report to lord Aizen that the former substitute Soul Reaper who is now a captain is indeed a threat to his plans and should be exterminated"

"I'm sure we'll meet again, Ichigo Kurosaki.." Ulquiorra said as he opened the gate and dragged the unconscious Yammy inside. "Be sure remember my name.. Ulquiorra Cifer.. Espada Number 4"

"Don't worry.. We'll remember it asshole" Hiyori replied, in place of Ichigo. "Just be sure to remember me, Hiyori Sarugaki , the bitch that's gonna kick you ass!"

Ulquiorra ignored her as he and Yammy disappeared inside the Garganta that quickly closed behind them. All was suddenly quiet as Ichigo, Hiyori, Orihime and Yoruichi stood there in the crater that was now free of enemies.

"Yoruichi… tell me… what's an Arrancar?" Ichigo asked in a serious tone. While looking at the empty space that Ulquiorra and Yammy had been minutes before. "As soon as we get to Urahara's.. I expect to be told everything"

Ichigo then deactivated his Bankai and walked away towards Urahara's shop while Orihime slowly followed, leaving Yoruichi and Hiyori standing there silent. After moment, Hiyori turned around facing the opposite of Yoruichi and finally spoke.

"The Arrancars were more developed they we thought… if not for Ichigo's training and his inner hollow cooperating, things wouldn't have gone as well as they just did" Hiyori said grimacing. "He needs to be told about them.. And if you don't, I will"

"Me and Kisuke never intended to keep the existence of the Arrancars a secret from Ichigo.. We just thought we'd have more time before Aizen was able to use the Hogyoku to create stable versions of them" Yoruichi replied. "If Aizen has been able to push the timeline for it's activation then we have a serious problem on our hands"

Hiyori said nothing as she flash-stepped away, presumably to Urahara's shop to meet with the others, leaving Yoruichi standing on her own for a moment before she too disappeared in a flash.

A short time later, Ichigo, Hiyori, Yoruichi, Urahara, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu were all sitting around a table set up in the training area in the basment of Urahara's shop.

"Ok.. We'll just lay this all out…"Urahara said glancing around. " Arrancar… they are hollows that have gained the powers, and general human appearance of Soul Reapers… like the reverse of Vizards"

"Damn… What is Aizen's ultimate goal though?" Ichigo asked, taking a deep breath. "What does he need these .. Arrancar for?… An invasion?"

"In a way… Aizen needs the Arrancar army to fight against the Soul Reapers and buy him time that he needs for the Hogyoku to fully awaken…" Yoruichi answered, folding her arms. "When that happens.. He'll have the power he needs to help create the Oken or kings key… With that in hand Aizen will be able to invade the Soul Kingdom, kill the Soul king and take over everything"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.. Soul kingdom? Soul king?...a key?" Ichigo said, slamming his hands on the small table in front of him. "Anyone wanna explain all that crap?"

"You didn't tell him any of this before now, Hiyori?" Urahara asked raising any eyebrow as his eyes shifted over to her.

"Wasn't time.. It's been one thing after another recently… first the fake kidnapping you set up, then the Bounts inceident and we then we only just delet with that Muramasa guy who was controlling all those Zanpakutos…" Hiyori said crossing her arms and glaring her eyes at him. "Wanna explain when the fuck I would have had time to?"

"Easy Hiyori.. Though maybe if you and Ichigo had spent less time "playing" in bed you would have had time" Urahara said with a grin.

In response, Hiyori beamed her cup, with the tea still inside, at Urahara and bounced painfully it off his forehead and sent hot tea flying on him.

"Hiyori, Kisuke.. Enough…both of you" Yoruichi said glaring at both of them. "I'll explain things…"

"Ok now.. First things first… the Soul Soceity is ruled by a Spirit king and a royal family that lives in a are that exists in another, special dinension" Yoruichi said, in a serious tone as she looked at Ichigo. "The only way to get to the Royal Dimension is either to be summoned by the Royal guard that protect the Royal family or to use what called an Oken or king's key.. Are you with me so Ichigo, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu?"

She got various replies from the group, ranging from "yes" to "more or less" before she nodded and continued.

"Good.. Now then.. Normally the way in which the Oken is forged is only known to the Royal Guard, and the Head Captain, menaing it's difficult to recreate this key" Yoruichi said, glancing around and waiting for nods of understanding. "However.. There is a more.. Sadistic manner to create an Oken that we believe Aizen has discovered… to create it.. He'll need 100,000 living souls and spiritually powerful area of land in the world of the living that he'll need to sacrifice"

"The area of land that is spiritually powerful enough changes over time.. And the current are of the world of the living… is Karakura town" KIsuke finished for Yoruichi.

"Karakura?!"

"Oh no!"

"I see.. That makes sense after you explained things.."

"How can we stop him?" Chad asked, with a concerned look on his face.

"That is the question Chad… but we do have several ideas to counter Aizen's plan" Urahara replied, sipping his tea. "The first step is one I've already completed… build a stable Garganta between Hueco Mundo and the world of the living to allow us to go there and battle Aizen's force before they can get to the world of the living"

"You've already completed it?" Yoruichi asked in somewhat surprise. "Well done Kisuke"

"It was nothing to someone as genius as me" Kisuke said with a small grin. "Though you probably wanna hear about the other plans…"

"No shit Sherlock" Hiyori responded with a deadpan face.

"Right.. Well, the other plan is far more dangerous.. So listen carefully" Kisuke said, back to his serious tone. "We plan on erecting pillars in Karakura, placing all the resident in the city into a sleep like state, and then transporting the entire town using what we call Tenkai Ketchu, buildings and all, into the Soul Soceity to keep it safe from Aizen"

"Your.. YOUR GOING TO DO WHAT?!" Ichigo exclaimed loudly. " How the hell are you going to do that?"

"It's quite simple really.. Transport the town and it's people to the Soul Society while their asleep and replace the town with a exact replica that's being bulit as we speak in a large empty area in the Soul Society by the department of research and development" Kisuke said with slight smile. "The town is identical down to the grass in the park.. And will certainly help hold off Aizen if we fail to defeat his forces in Hueco Mundo"

"That's insane.. Even for the Soul Society" Uryu said, with widened eyes. "Do the pillars act like a variation of the gate used during the travel to the Soul Society to save Rukia Kuchiki? A spirit particle converter"

"Correct as expected Uryu " Kisuke replied with a nod. " The pillars will do the same as the gate.. Allowing the citizens of Karakura to enter the Soul Society while converting them into Reshi and letting them in without killing them.."

"This whole thing is just nuts… how do you deal with this all the time Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, looking over at her friend. " This Aizen guy sound like a real fucking nut job too.. Maybe even the king of nut jobs…"

"It's not so bad once you get use to it Tatsuki…besides, now your part of it too" Orihime giggled as Tatsuki groaned and smacked herself in her forehead. "I wonder what your Zanpakuto can do anyways?"

"Her name is Tobiume.. And I have no idea what she can do… she hasn't let me learn her release yet…" Tatsuki replied, slightly grumpy. "She says I need a bit more training first"

"It does take time" Ichigo said, with slight smile. "Not all of us can be awesome as me and go from not Zanpakuto to learning Bankai in a matter of weeks"

"Orange haired freak"

"Psycho karate girl"

"Asshole"

"Bitch"

" If your so hot and might .. Then train me.. Show me your stuff" Tatsuki said after she and Ichigo finished trading insults. "You better not hold back either… If I wanna get good with my sword then I gotta push my limits.. Just like in Karate"

"Good spirit Tatsuki.. Even though Ichigo here isn't the best choice to learn from.. I'm sure his training from Hiyori should at least help you a little" Yoruichi said nodding. "Go ahead to the training room and get started, I'll supervise and help you"

As Ichigo, Tatsuki and Yoruichi walked to the training room, Orihime looked over at Hiyori and Tatsuki's words about pushing her limits replayed.

"Hiyori… can I talk to you for a second? In private?" Orihime asked carefully. "It's about what we talked about before"

"Huh?.. Um sure what ever.. Nothing else to do at the moment" Hiyori replied, standing up and stretching. "Lead the way jugs"

After leading Hiyori to the backyard area of the shop, Orihime turned and looked at Hiyoiri.

"You said you'd train me… and now that this has happened.. I need you to train me now.. Please" Orihime begged, bowing to Hiyori as she asked. "If Ichigo hadn't arrived when he did, I would have been killed.. I need to get stronger like Tatsuki is "

"Sigh"…I suppose I did promise…" Hiyori said slouching. "Alright.. I'll trian you.. But on one condition"

"What…What is it?" Orihime asked , her mind racing to think of what she would want her to promise.

"When we fight against Aizen…the battles agsisnt the Arrancar will more dangerous then anyting you saw or heard about in the Soul Society.. More dangerous then you can possibly imagine" Hiyori said very seriously. "You will not fight alone against them.. Only with someone skilled by your side… if that person can not continue fighting for what ever reason .. You are to find someplace safe and stay there…"

"I.."

"Promise or I don't train you and make sure you don't step one foot near any battle" Hiyori siad narrowing her eyes. "No negotiation "

"Ok" Orihime replied, with eyes full of determination. "I agreee"

"Good…very good.." Hiyori said with a slight smile. "I'll train you to fight physically with hand to hand and some kind of weapon.. While Hachi helps you further to master your abilities with your hair pin fairy things"

"Right!" Orihime said pumping her fist slightly. "When can we begin?"

"Why wait any longer?" Hiyori repeldi walking away. "Nothing else to do but prepare.. So we might as well train"

Meanwhile in the Soul Society….

The head Captain had called Captain Hitsugaya to his office to discuss a mission for him.

"Captain Hitsugaya… I have received word from the Department of Research and Development that several of Aizen's Arrancar appeared today in Karakura town " Yamamoto said, his voice booming through his large office in the squad 1 barracks. "I am putting you in charge of a team that will go to Karakura and watch over things in case more Arrancar appear.."

"I see.. Very well Captain Yamamoto sir.. I'll leave as soon as possible" Hitsugaya repelide standing in front of Yamamoto's desk. "Who will be going with me sir?"

"Though I will leave that up to you, I suggest you bring those who are familiar with Karakura" Yamamoto replied calmly. "Captain Kurosaki and his Lieutenant are both already there and we're the ones to engage the Arrancar.. They are part of your team.. And also, Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin have already agreed also provide assistance should it be needed"

"Understood sir.. Is there anything else?" Captain Hitugaya asked, waiting patiently.

"No.. you may go now, Captain" Yamamoto replied after a minute. "I wish you and your team the best of luck… and if we discover any appearnce of the Arrancar that you do not, we shall alert you and your team"

"Understood.. Thank you sir" Hitugaya sadi, turning to leave. "I'll gather my team and leave at once"

Captain Hitsugaya had not stepped two feet away from the Head Captain's office when Lieutenant Matsumoto appeared from a flash step and begun walking beside him.

"So what did he want Captain? Anything good?" Rangiku asked, hands behind her head.

"Sigh.. A mission to the world of the living.. And yes before you start begging me, you can be part of my team I'm choosing" Hitsugaya said, looking forward as they walked.

"Really, really !?" Rangiku shrieked in happiness, hugging the much shorter captain from behind, and burying his head between her large breasts. "Thank you, thank you captain.. I promise to be on my best behaivor"

"Rangiku!.. Get off!.." Hitsugaya said blushing slightly. "Why do you do that?…"

"Don't be such a prude Captain.." Rangiku said pretending to pout. "I can't wait to go.. So much to see and do in the world of the living"

"We're not going there to shop.. We're going there on a dangerous mission" Toshiro said, feeling slightly frustrated. "Now we still need to gather the rest of our team so let's-"

"No need to look very far, Captain" Said a grinning Ikkaku sitting on a railing. "I'm already to go on any dangerous mission you got"

"If Ikkaku is going ,then count me in as well" Yumichika appeared next to Ikkaku with a grin of his own.

"Fine…. Your skills will no doubt be useful.. And I won't have to worry about you slaking off like Rangiku here" Toshiro said as he began walking again.

"We still need a few more people" Toshiro continued, still walking. "Any suggestions?"

Ikkaku grinned again as he hopped off the railing. "I might have just the people in mind"

About 10 minutes later, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, Rukia and Isane all waited for hell butterflies to flt out of a Senkaimon that Renji opened for them. Sooner after they arrived in the world of the living and made their way to Urahara's shop. Once there, they found Tessai straightening up the shop with Jinta and Ururu, who stopped what they were doing once the arrived.

"Welcome to our shop, Captain Hitsugaya and company" Tessai said with a slight bow. "My name is Tessai…what can I help you with?"

"We're here on a mission from Head Captain Yamamoto to deal with the Arrancar" Toshiro said, looking up at thew giant man. "We need to aquire gigai, and meet up with Captain Kuroskai and his Lieutenant"

"Then you've come to the right place for both thing, Captain Hitsugaya" Tessai said, letting them inside nad leading them through the store. "Ichigo, Hiyori, and their friends from the world of the living are all here at our shop being briefed on what Arrancar are and the plans for the upcoming battle against Aizen"

"Good.. That saves me the trouble of explaining things to them" Toshiro said, as Rangiku started looking around at the item the store sold. "Rangiku.. Get over here.. We're not shopping…. Sigh anyways .. About our gigai.."

"I'll begin work on them right away and try to have them complete as soon as possible" Tessai said stopping in front of a door and crouching down and knocking. "Boss.. Captain Hitsugaya and a group of Soul Reapers are here to meet with Ichigo"

A slightly muffled "come in" was heared and Tessai slid open the door for the group, beckoning them inside.

"Welcome.. If you need to see Ichigo and the others then we'll have to head downstairs to my training area" Urahara said, standing up. "Currently, Ichigo is helping miss Tatsuki Arisawa train.. While Hiyori took Orihime Inoue to see the other Vizards about some kind of unspecified training"

"I see.. Then please lead the way" Toshiro replied with a nod.

Urahara led them down the ladder to his training area where they could see Ichigo and Tatsuki clashing swords as they trained. Tatsuki swung her sword at Ichigo who jumped over it, dodging it before he appeared behind her and tried to knock her out with the hilt of his sword. Tatsuki managed to turn around fast enough to catch his sword hilt before it hit her and held it there with a fierce, determined grin on her face.

""She's quite good" Toshiro commented, before Urahara got Ichigo and Tatsuki's attention.

Urahara had Ichigo, Tatsuki, Chad, and Uryu come over to him and the group from the Soul Society.

"What are you all doing here?" Ichigo asked as walked over to them. "Did old man Yamamoto send you?.. And did it have something to do with these Arrancar things?"

"Indeed .. Your correct on both of these manners Captain Kurosaki" Toshiro replied, leaning against a boulder. "We are to remain here on standby in case the Arrancar return"

"Good.. From what Urahara explained these Arrancar will be a major problem for us" Uryu said, pushing his glasses up. "Is there any idea when they might show up again?"

"Unfortunately no.. there is no way to to predict in advance when the Arrancar might show up" Toshiro replied taking a seat. "Which is why we'll need to be on our guard for if and when they do show up again"

"Perfect" Ichigo said grumbling. "Will we be enough to deal with them?"

"Maybe.. An Arrancr is more powerful then a Captain.. And given that we are officially short several captains now that the Vizards are back here in the world of the living since they didn't want to stay there after we dealt with the Zanpakuto incident" Toshiro said with somewhat worried expression. "We didn't even know that Aizen had actually made fully developed Arrancar yet.. And given that the strength of an Arrancar .. If there are more then 10 or so Arrancar level hollows.. Then we might not stand a chance"

Speaking of Aizen and the Arrancar..

In Hueco Mundo's Los Noches, the base of operations for Aizen, Ichimaru and his forces, the two Arrancar, Ulquiorra and Yammy had just arrived to give their report. Aizen was at the head of a long table with many Arrancar sitting at it.

"Oh my… what happened to Yammy? He looks like crap" Ichimaru grinned his usual snake like grin stepping out next to Aizen.

"Ha! he's looks something a dead cat dragged in" exclaimed an Arrancar with spiky light blue hair and the jaw of a hollow mask covering his own jaw on the right side of his face.

"Who did this Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked raising an eyebrow. "Was it the Vizard from before Hiyori Sarugaki?.. Or perhaps Yoruichi Shionin?"

"No lord Aizen, not exactly" Ulquiorra replied in a monotone, emotionless voice. "Althoguh Yoruichi Shihoin did show up and the Vizard did injure his leg.. It was Ichigo Kurosaki that did the most damage to Yammy.. Cutting off his arm with ease.."

"Really? My my.. That boy certainly is interesting, isn't he Captain Aizen?" Ichimaru folded his amrs in the long sleeves of his white robe.

"Indeed.. He is far more trouble then I orinally anticipated.. Although given his origin.. I should have been more prepared for this" Aizen leaning foreard and folded his hands in thought. "Show us what transpired Ulquiorra…"

"Of course, Lord Aizen" Ulquiorra nodded as reach for his eye. "I will show you everything"

He pulled his eyeball out of his eye socket and crushed it, letting everyone see and experience the memories of the fight.

"That boy.. He cut through Yammy's arm with absolutely no resistance" commented a female Arrancar with messy short blond hair and enormous breasts that were only half covered by a short white half jacket. "Yammy's Hierro should have stopped the orange haired Soul Reaper Zanpakuto completely.. but he cut through it like it was paper… even the short blong girl managed to cut through the Hierro part of the way…"

"You should have killed him for what he did!" The blue haired Arrancar sneered and corssed his arms. "I would have slit his throat.. in fact.. Let me go with a group of Arrancar and kill the Soul Reaper and his stupid allies!"

"I think he's kind of cute.. What do you think, Starkk?" commented a very short female Arrancar wearing an opening, revealing white vest, arm warmers, thigh high white stockings, fur topped boots and a pair of white underwear.

"Ehh.. Don't know or care, Lilynette.." Replied the Arrancar identified as Stark. "I just wanna go sleep"

"Your always sleeping Starkk.. Don't you care that I've taken an interest in a Soul Reaper?" Lilynette yelled, repeatedly slapping Starkk on his head like it was bongo. "Ha! your head makes the perfect musical instrument...cause it's empty! Maybe I'll go fuck that orange haired Soul Reaper's brains out"

"You don't even know what sex is you idiot… Though if you did and you weren't too young for that I'd say go for it… instead of bugging me" A bored Starkk commented resting his forehead on the table while Lilynette continued to beat on Starkk's head like a drum.

"Enough.. It's true that Ichigo Kurosaki may need to be dealt with sooner then originally planned.. But I have not yet deceide on which way to deal with him" Aizen stood up and walked over to his throne to and stood there . "I might consider sending you after I think about it some more… however.. In the meantime, you are to stay put in Hueco Mundo and not make any move on your own.. No traveling to the world of the living to deal with Ichigo Kurosaki. Do I make myself clear.. Grimmjow?"

"Grrr… yes Lord Aizen" the blue haired Grimmjow replied scowling in defeat.

"Good.. Come Gin" Aizen walked out of the room with Ichimaru in tow. "The rest of you are dismissed and may do what you want for now ..oh an Lilynette.. I do hope you were joking"

The Arrancar all left the rom after Aizen left to go about their own business while an several Arrancars dressed in nurse outfits came and dragged the unconscious Yammy and his severed arm away. However, Grimmjow remained, glaring out into the empty room as he decided what to do about Ichigo Kurosaki.

"No way I'm going to wait here for Aizen to decide if he'll let me go…" He said standing up and grinning. "I will go….and I will kill that arrogant Soul Reaper...And no will stop me"

With that, Grimmjow walked out of the room to gather trusted Arrancar to bring with him when he killed the Soul Reaper and his allies.

"What started as shitty day is going to become a fun one" Grimmjow grinned and laughed slightly as he strolled down the hall. "I can't wait to cut off his head and bring it back as a souvenir"

As Grimmjow walked, Ichimaru and Aizne were standing on a balcony looking out at the vast area of Las Noches.

"You know Captain Aizen… if I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted Grimmjow to go after Ichigo Kurosaki"

"Really?.. What makes you think that Gin?" Aizen smiled slightly as he rested his arms on the railing of the balcony. "What kind of person would I be if openly suggested that Grimmjow defy my orders by telling him to do exactly that?"

Ichimaru's grin spread further up his face and his eyes slightly opened as he stood near Aizen. "I'd say that would make you an asshole, Captain Aizen"

Aizen merely continued to smile without answering him and stood upright, taking his arms of the balcony's railing.

"This is going to be fun, Captain Aizen.. A whole lot of fun"

End of Chater 48

Well there was a long gap since my last update huh? Sorry about that.. Anyways please ready, review and enjoy. If you have a question or something to comment on go for it, ill try to answer it using the fan fiction messaging thing. If you don't have an account then I'll just answer it on the next chapter. See you all soon.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 49

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Grimmjow had just gathered up several Arrancar and told them they were going to go to the world of the living to fight a strong Soul Reaper as well as other spiritually aware people there. This group included Di Roy Rinker, Shawlong Koufang, Yylfordt Granz, Nakeem Grindina and Cirucci Sanderwicci ( or Thunderwitch if you prefer.. I've heard it pronounced and spelled both ways) among others

"Alright.. To reiterate.. Were all going to the world of the living against orders to against some Soul Reapers including a powerful orange haired one that injured and nearly killed that loud mouth Yammy" Grimmjow said, glancing around the room at the Arrancar assembled. " Whether we succeed or fail were going to get bitched at by Aizen, so it's up to you if you really wanna come. I'm going no matter what, but it's your choice to come or not"

"I was a high ranking Espada and after Aizen took over I got demoted to the rank 105th .. I've been stuck doing nothing for years because of him" Cirucci stated crossing her arms under her breasts. "I'm looking to get the hell out of there for a while.. fighting against Soul Reapers is just a nice bonus"

"Fine.. Then let's go" Grimmjow said, opening a Garganta in front of them. "Next stop, Karakura town"

In the world of the living, while Grimmjow and the other Arrancar were about to leave to, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Chad, Uryu, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, Rukia and Isane were all crammed into Ichigo's room.

"So.. The plan is to keep watch over the town in case any Arrancar shows up…" Ichigo said, leaning back in a desk chair he was sitting on. " What about where everyone is going to stay while you're here.. A couple of you can stay here.. But there's nowhere near enough room for everyone"

"I'll see if I can stay at Kisuke's place.. Maybe do some work at the shop in return or something.." Renji said, folding his arms. "That should take care of me"

"I'll stay here again at Ichigo's since I'm familiar with it" Rukia sat back on Ichigo's bed where she, Rangiku and Tatsuki sat. "That just leaves Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Kotetsu, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Lieutenant Matsumoto "

"How about I stay at Ichigo's place too?" Rangiku asked in a flirty tone, opening the top of her shihakusho more to show off more of her chest. "I'll make it worth your while Ichigo"

"Not a chance in hell, Rangiku" Tatsuki replied before Ichigo could say anything. " You can stay with either me or Orihime"

While Rangiku pouted, Ikkaku and Yumichika stood up and walked to Ichigo's window. "We'll find someplace to stay on our own.. No way we're going to be a burden or owe anyone anything.. Come on Yumichika, let's grab our gigai"

Before anyone could argue, the two jumped out the window and dashed away to who knows where, leaving the other in Ichigo's room. Suddenly there was knock at the door, that turned everyone's attention away from Ikkaku and Yumichika. Toshiro undid silence barrier that he had previously place on the room while Ichigo cautiously opened the door slightly.

"Who is it?.. Oh.. Dad and Karin.. What are you two doing out here?" Ichigo asked , keeping his door closed most of the way.

"We wanted to see why there was so much.. what did you call it, goat chin?. Spirit energy in your room" Karin answered in a normal even tone. " So is there a bunch of ghosts in there or something?"

"Crap.. I mean no.. there's nothing in here.. Just me… and I'm busy with something.. So scram" Ichigo said trying keep the door from opening despite his dad trying to push it open. "Just go away you two.."

"If there's nothing to hide.. Then let your dear old dad inside!" Isshin said pushing against the door hard enough to force it open and to send Ichigo backwards to the floor. "So what are you.. Trying .. To hide….. Toshiro?.. Rangiku?"

Toshiro and Rangiku's eyes went wide and they stared at Isshin as if they'd seen a ghost.

"Cap...Captain Isshin?" Toshiro stammered with still wide eyes. "Your.. Your alive?"

"Oh crap.. Um. Hi there Toshiro.. Rangiku… long time no see?" Isshin said awkwardly. "You both look good.."

"What the hell is going on?!" Ichigo shouted jumping to his feet. "Did you know them when your were a Captain?!"

Rukia elbowed Ichigo in his side as hard as she could muster to hurt him up before speaking. "Perhaps, we should give Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto and Mr. Isshin some space to talk privately.. I'm sure we can occupy another place in this house for the time being"

The others all silently agreed, even though they all had a lot of questions about the situation and left the room till only Isshin, Toshiro, Rangiku and Ichigo remained, while Rukia waited by the open door.

"Come on Ichigo, I'm sure they'll tell you later what ever it is that-"

Ichigo interrupted her "No… I'm staying here Rukia"

"It's fine Rukia.. I'm sure Ichigo is curious"

Rukia nodded and closed the door behind her, leaving Ichigo, Isshin, Toshiro, and Rangiku there alone.

"Captain…is that really you?" Rangiku asked cautiously.

"Yeah.. It's me Rangiku.. Long time no see huh?" Isshin said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"So you are going to explain right?" Ichigo asked, folding his arms.

"Well.. As you know.. I was a Soul Reaper in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.. And to be more specific… I was the captain of Squad 10" Isshin said with a hint of pride. "While I was there.. Toshiro was my 3rd seat and the lovely, and might I add busty, Rangiku here was my Lieutenant"

"Captain… where have been all these years?.. We haven't seen you in over 20 years now" Toshiro said directly. "What happen? Why are you here? And.. Are you really Ichigo Kurosaki's father?"

"A lot happen Toshiro.. A hell of a lot.. and yeah it's true, this amazing guy is indeed the father of the spiky headed moron Ichigo Kurosaki" Isshin said, grinning and posing as Ichigo kicked him.

"I see… but why are you here in the world of the living? You disappeared when you were going to check on disappearing Soul Reapers.. But you never came back.. And we never managed to get any information on where you went" Rangiku said, crossing her arms. " We were told you died, but were never allowed any more info then that.. We didn't buy that you died so easily"

"It's complicated Rangiku.. Very complicated.. I promise I'll tell you the full reason eventually.. But for now just know that my reason for staying here in the world of the living.. Involved a beautiful women named Masaki… the women that became Ichigo's mother" Isshin replied seriously with a touch of softness when he mentioned his dead wife. "I stayed here with her.. And we had three children.. Ichigo and then his younger sisters Karin and Yuzu.. I had no reason to return when everything I wanted was here"

"Aww.. That so romantic.. Hard to believe a pervert like you could act that way" Rangiku commented with a slight smile. "Go figure it took a women to stop you from being so much of a major pervert.. I still remember you trying to grope me and peep on me in the bathhouse whenever you could"

"Yeah.. Well.. Um…hehehe.. How about a courtesy grope of those lovely melons for old time sake?!" Isshin said, trying to leap at Rangiku but was kicked in the stomach sand sent flying into the wall by Ichigo. "Nice kick my son… your getting better every day.. "groan"

Toshiro was about to say something when huge Spiritual energy was felt radiating from the city. Everyone at Ichigo's house took notice and knew the Arrancar had arrived, while over at the Vizard's warehouse, the same spiritual energy was also felt though less so because of the barrier surrounding it.

"We can talk later about more specifics.. We have to go… and face the Arrancar" Toshiro stated seriously as he opened the door. "Rangiku.. Contact the Soul Society and inform them that we about to engage the Arrancar"

With that, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ichigo, Isane, Renji, Rukia, and Uryu all agreed to split up to deal with the Arrancar while Tatsuki and Chad reluctantly agreed to get to stay there at Ichigo's instead of fighting. They weren't happy about it, but given the possible strength of the Arrancar and their limited training, they had no choice. Isshin on the other hand, placed a barrier around the Kurosaki house to block their presence from the Arrancar at large.

Ichigo flash stepped away and came to a stop, standing in the air above the city when he felt the spiritual energy he recognized near him.

"Hey.. Nice night for some Arrancar slaying, huh Ichigo?" Said Shinji as he appeared near Ichigo.

"Yeah I guess.. Where's Hiyori.. I would have thought she'd be here before I was" Ichigo asked looking out across the city and trying to pinpoint the Arrancar's presence.

"She's busy with some kind of training with that human friend of your's…Orihime" Shinji replied, pulling out his Zanpakuto. "Wouldn't say what kind of training but told me it was important and that I was going to go in her place.. If things turn bad then she'll come, but otherwise she wanted me to tell you to "have fun"

"Sigh.. Fine…get ready their here" Ichigo said, pulling his own Zanpakuto off of his back and bringing it up in front of him just in time to block the sword of a grinning blue hair Arrancar. "Arrancar"

"Well, well.. What luck.. The first Soul Reapers I come across are both strong ones.. And more importantly.. Your Ichigo Kurosaki… the one I get to kill!" Grimmjow said with a wide grin.

"Well see about that.. Who are you?.. Or rather what's your name you blue haired freak?" Ichigo, not budging as their two swords pushed against each other.

"I am Espada number 6 of the Arrancar.. Grimmjow Jeagerjaques" He proclaimed, as he jumped back.. "Your friend here better stay out of my way.. I'm here for you and only you, Ichigo!"

"I'm more of a ally then friend.. But it's fine.. I'll just take care of your fellow Arrancar there who's apparently pathetic at hiding" Shinji said, glancing to what seemed like an invisible space, before another Arrancar appeared from a shimmering veil.

"Very well.. I will be your opponent" the Arrancar said calmly. "I am Arrancar number 11, Shawlong Quafang"

The man standing before Shinji was strange as most Arrancar and wearing the normal white Arrancar Shihakusho. He had a long face, black hair in a thin braid and the part of his Hollow mask that remained was large, cover a good portion of the left side of is face and had a spike like part that pointed to the left.

"I'm Shinji Hirako.." Shinji replied simply. "You're a lot calmer then your nut job friend there"

"Yes well, Grimmjow has never been known for his manners…" Shawlong said, glancing at his fellow Arrancar as he raced at Ichigo. "I simply believe that one should always have a grace and intelligence in order to live life to it's fullest…"

"Huh.. Not a bad philosophy to have.. Even for an Arrancar" Shinji said pulling in Zanpakuto out. "In any case.. We should probably get this over with and start fighting right?"

"Yes.. I do suppose your correct.. Though barbaric, it was inevitable.." Shawlong agreed, nodding. "Are you ready, Shinji Hirako?"

Shinji nodded and raised his sword. "Yeah…lets get this started"

Meanwhile, Grimmjow and Ichigo were crossing swords at high speed some distance away.

"Come on Grimmjow.. You said your Arrancar 6.. So that means your high up right? Then why are you so slow and weak?" Ichigo asked as he effortlessly blocked every slash of Grimmjow's strikes. " If your not going to fight with everything you've got then maybe you'll tell me why that bastard Aizen sent you here?"

"Aizen? Don't make me laugh.. That asshole has nothing to do with this.. He's an arrogant fuckwad that doesn't belong in Hueco Mundo" Grimmjow stated barring his teeth. " In fact he told me not to go after you when I said I'd love to.. I'm here on my own accord"

"Sounds to me like Aizen wanted you to fight me for some reason.. Like he knew that telling you not to go after me would make you want to even more" Ichigo said, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe not fighting would piss him off more.."

"I have no problems with pissing off Aizen.. Especially if he's manipulating me.. But that said.. I still intend of enjoying myself by killing you!" Grimmjow slashed more fiercely at Ichigo, who continued to dodge and counter them with ease. "Hold still, damn you!"

"Not happening you blue haired psycho" Ichigo said, finally taking a swing that left a long cut across Grimmjow's face as he moved to avoid it.

"Your good at sword play.. And you cut my skin with no effort.. That's both good and intriguing.. Though I gotta ask how you can do that so easily" Grimmjow inquired, watching Ichigo carefully. "An Arrancar's Hierro is suppose to be tough enough to block most attacks.. Yet you can cut through it like it's bare skin"

"Not entirely sure.. But I have ability to push my Reishi into my Zanpakuto and use it to strengthen it's attack, speed and power.. If I had to take a guess, I'd say when I do that it makes my blade sharp enough to cut through your skin even if it is designed to resist damage" Ichigo replied, thinking for a sec.

"Damn you.. The fact that your doing it without even knowing for sure the reason your able to do it pisses me off even more" Grimmjow said putting his sword away. "You've proved your skill with a blade are good.. But how well can you do with hand to hand?"

Instead of waiting for answer Grimmjow launched a round house kick at Ichigo that sent him flying back into a building. A small crater was made by Ichigo as he crashed into the building that sent debris and broken glass raining down to the streets below.

"Damn.. That actually hurt a bit" Ichigo commented as he wiped a bit of blood from his mouth and stood up in the indent of the building. " But even so. I actually do know hand to hand combat.. So lets see how mine stacks up with yours"

"Your on, Soul Reaper"

Ichigo rushed forward and Grimmjow blocked his punch while simultaneously doing a spinning kick that connected with Ichigo ribs. He was fortunate he had a high pain threshold, cause it would have hurt like no one's business, but he shrugged it off for the most part and countered as Grimmjow attempted to grabbed him. Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow's wrist and a snapped it with a loud crack before yanking him down and bringing his knee up to smash it into Grimmjow's jaw.

"Damn it you fucking Soul Reaper!" Grimmjow yelled as he adjusted his painful jaw. "I'm gonna crush your throat!"

Ichigo and Grimmjow traded powerful blow and after blow for probably a half an hour before they ceased and were panting as the stood in the sky, with various cuts, bruises and other injuries.

"This is not going the way I planned at all" Grimmjow muttered, barring his teeth. " I can't believe I might have to use my Resurreccion on a Soul Reaper.. No.. how about.. This instead! Cero!"

Ichigo seemed to be hit point blank by the Cero from Grimmjow's perspective, causing an explosion as it hit. Grimmjow waited for the smoke to clear to see the damage and his eyes went wide when Ichigo was not only unharmed, but he had hollow like mask on his face

"What the hell.. What the hell are you?" Grimmjow asked in disbelief. "That mask… a hollow's mask… what the fuck are you?"

Instead of answering, Ichigo disappeared in a flash and reappeared in front of him swinging his sword and unleashing an enormous point blank black Getsuga Tenshou at Grimmjow. Grimmjow wass caught of guard and a long bloody wound across his chest and abdomen.

"Damn it… that fucking hurt you bastard.." Grimmjow stated painfully. "I'm going to beat you senseless you and make you tell me what you are, before I tear off your head and take it as a trophy!"

As that battle was taking place there a strange girl that was being bored elsewhere in Karakura. The Arrancar Cirucci Sanderwicci was sitting on a random rooftop in the city, yawning as she looked at the stars. She was a short thin girl with strangely styled purple hair with only a tiny piece of her Hollow mask visible that more resemble a hair pin then part of a mask. Cirucci was dressed in a sort of mostly white gothic lolita clothing that consisted of a frilly white dress with puffy shoulders, knee high boots, leg warmers attached to garters on her thighs, fingerless gloves that went up to her biceps, and a pair of wing like objects on her back.

Cirucci was bored.. Bored as hell.. As began to wonder why she had even come with Grimmjow… oh yeah, cause she was tired of being stuck in Las Noches with nothing to do while Aizen did whatever he was planning.

"Maybe I can go look at that clothing store down across the street.. Not like the humans could see me if I did" She said out loud to herself. " Better then nothing I suppose"

She stood up, dusting off her dress and made her way down to the ground below near the clothing store she had her eye on. The front window had several gothic lolita dresses on mannequins that she though would look great on her if she could actually get them.

"Hey.. Who are you miss?" A young human girl asked, looking at Cirucci in curiosity. "Why do you have those strange clothes on?"

"Huh? Who said.. A little girl?" Cirucci said, looking at the short human. " How can you see me?.. Do you have high spirit energy?"

"What's spirit energy?" the girl asked tilting her head to one side. " You have really pretty hair miss"

"oh…um thanks.. I think.." Cirucci said staring at the girl. "Did you…. want something kid?"

"Will you help me find my mommy?" The girl asked, looking nervous. "I losts her in the crowd"

"Oh um.. Well…" Cirucci was trying to think about how to answer the kid when she felt nearby spiritual pressure of another Arrancar. "Damn it"

She grabbed the girl and pulled her to one side when a beam of red energy from a Cero shot at the place where the kid had been standing.

"Hey, hey.. What the deal Cirucci? I was going to kill that kid.. She got high spirit energy" Said the Arrancar Yylfordt Granz as he appeared in front of them. "Why did you move her?"

Dressed in the standard Arrancar robes, he had long blond hair, red eyes, and the remains of his hollow mask sat on top of his head, resembling a broken helmet of sorts.

"None of your damn business Granz" She replied, keeping the girl behind her. "Just get the hell out of here before I have to kill you or something"

"What makes you think you can kill me? I'm Arrancar number 15... Where as you are the pathetic 105th Arrancar" granz said with a smirk.

Cirucci grinned and can let out a laugh, which confused Granz, forcing him to demand what was so funny to her.

"It's simple really… you are a Numeros Fraccion… where as I.. am a Privaron Espada.. And formerly… Espada number 10" Circucci replied, with a evil grin. "As you can see, I far out rank you in power…"

"Damn you witch" Granz growled as he pulled out his Zanpakuto. "Let's see if your really as powerful as you claim… Impale, Del Toro!"

"Little girl…Close your eyes, plug your ears.. And stay that way till I say otherwize" Cirucci said looking at the girl. "It's important… and afterwards.. We'll go find this mom person for you"

The girl seemed scared but did as she was told as Granz used his Resurreccion which gave him a sort of bull like appearance. He raced at Cirucci with the intentino of impaling her with the horns that had grown out of his helmet like hollow mask but everything seemed to be in slow motion as Cirrcui spoke to him.

"You've always been a pathetic, loud mouth Arrancar Granz.. One who thinks that he can overpower anyone with brute force. You've always been a loser" Cirucci said as she pulled out her whip like Zanpakuto who's appearance was that of a sword handle connected to a disk shaped blade by a long durable string. "Now though.. Your just dead"

At high speed she used her weapon like whip and slashed Granz diagonally to the right and to the left, vertically and horizontally before putting her weapon away just as Granz was cut into large pieces that flew apart in showers of blood.

She turned around and told the little girl that they were going to a safer place nearby, so she should hold on. Using Sonido, she disappeared with the girl and they both reapered several blocks away to wher she didn't feel any other major spiritual energy at.

"Wow.. That was so cool, violet-chan!" The girl exclaimed. "We moved like "Wooosh!"

"Yeah.. A wooosh..your one strange human kid, you know that?" Cirucci said outloud with a barely visible smirk. "Not that I've ever met another human girl that I'm aware of.."

"So.. Can we find my mommy violet-chan?" The girl asked looking up at her with big green eyes.

"I did say we would.. What do you mean by violet-chan? My name is Cirucci Sanderwicci" Cirucci said raising an eyebrow.

"Ciru.. Ciruch.. It's too hard to say Violet-chan" The girl replied, a she gave up on her name. " I'm Hinata.."

"Hinata huh.. Nice to meet you kid" Cirucci said, nodding. "Show me where you last were with this.. mom person of yours"

"Ok, thanks Violet-chan!" THe girl said happily, grabbing Cirucci's hand.

In another part of town, Rukia and Renji flash stepped to the air and came to a stop nodding to each other as they drew their Zanpakutos from their sheathes. They both held their swords tightly as a third Zanpakuto appeared and slammed into theirs, creating a shower of sparks. The sword belonged to a large, fat Arrancar in a normal Arrancar uniform with small brown eyes, short black hair cut in a bowl style and half of his face covered with a hollow mask.

"Soul Reapers.. You will die now" The Arrancar said, slashing his sword at them.

Rukia and Renji jumped back and nodded to one another as they took stances.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

"Dance! Sode no Shirayuki"

"Die" The Arrancar said simply as he disappeared from sight for a brief moment and then reappeared, kicking Renji his stomach and rasing his sword.

"Bakudo 30, Shitotsu Sansen" Rukia yelled making three beams of light energy hold the Arrancar in place. "Hado 4, Byakurai"

A beam of blue energy shot out of Rukia's fingertips and hit the Arrancar, but had little effect, only scorching his Hierro. The large Arrancar used Sonido once again and maneuvered behind Rukia preparing to punch her on the top of her head with all his force, but Rukia turned around at the last second and blocked it with her sword, pushing as best she could against his large soon as she saw Renji move, she pushed with all her force and then jumped back, as Renji brought the segmented blades of his released Zanpakuto down onto the Arrrancar.

The Arrancar hadn't anticipated the attack and raised his arm to try and block the sword, only to have the blades dig slightly into his arm as Renji yanked his sword back in a sawing motion.

Rukia flash stepped near Renji with her sword held in front of her.

"Damn.. How the hell did Ichigo and Hiyori cut through an Arrancar's skin so easily?" Renji complained, glancing at Rukia. "Your friends just have all the luck, don't they?"

"Don't blame me.. Maybe it's luck or maybe there stronger then you…" Rukia said, trailing off with a smirk. "Either way, shut up and focus pineapple head"

"Not you too.. Damn you Ichigo.. Why did he have to call me that stupid nickname" Renji said as he attacked the Arrancar again. "Whatever, I'm not letting the former substitute show me up. Let's kick this Arrancar's fat ass Rukia and show him how we did things in the 78th district of the Rukon !"

"My pleasure.. Which means you should stand back and let me do the work like you use to back then" Rukia said, grinning as Renji scowled at her. "Second dance! Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

Rukia unleashed an enormous avalanche of snow and ice onto the Arrancar who was caught almost dead center in it and was frozen in an ice glacier.

"How's that, mister giant eyebrows?" Rukia smirked at Renji. "Was that enough to impress the  
>"great" Renji Abarai?"<p>

"Bite me miget… you and Ichigo both just love to-"

He was cut off by a blast of cold air as the Arrancar shattered the ice encasing him as if it was nothing and glared at the two Soul Reapers.

"So much for taking care of him" Renji muttered. "We might have to ask for Gentei Kaiyo at this rate"

"Giving how slow they can be, you might wanna requeest it now.. And considering the fact that this Arrancar is this strong, the others that came with him are probably the same" Rukia replied nodding. "It's a good thing Ichigo doesn't have one and Hiyori couldn't get one for some reason"

"Yeah I guess" Renji said, scowling as he grabbed his Soul Pager. "Let me contact the others and see if they think it's necessary… Lieutenant Abarai to Captain Hitsugaya "

"Hitsugaya here.. What is it?" Toshiro replied in to his phone as he held up his blade against an enemy. "I'm busy fighting an Arrancar of my own, so please make it fast Lieutenant"

"Uh, yes sir.. These Arrancar are very strong sir.. I recommend that we request Gentei Kaijyo as soon as possible" Renji quickly said as he and Rukia dash through te air to try and avoid the Arrncar's attacks. "By the way, who are you and Rangiku fighting?"

"I know.. I had Rangiku requested a moment ago… we'll have to wait for a reply" Toshiro replied, dodging his opponent. "My opponent called himself Nnoitra Gilga.. I have to go...Good luck"

"Same to you sir"

"Well are you done talking yet?..I thought you'd never finish" Nnoitra said shaking his head and grinning widly. "Ready to have some more fun captain?"

Toshiro slipped his phone away and took in the appearance of his enemy, Nnoitra Gilga. He weas very tall and lanky, with a huge nasty grin and long black hair concealing most of his left eye, though a white eye patch could clearly be seen. He had a mostly normal Arrancar Shihakusho except it exposed most of the middle of his chest and had a strange large hood like piece behind his head.

"Your Reishi….it's very strong Arrancar… what rank are you?" Toshiro ask, as he held his released Zanpakuto tightly his his hands.

"Even though I have no reason to tell a weakling like you anything.. I suppose I can induge you and tell you that" Nnoitra said, narrowing his eyes, but not dropping his ever present grin. "I am Espda number 5.. And in case you didn't know, we Espada are the most power of the Arancar.. far stronger then you could hope to match"

"I see…"Toshiro said focusing. "Rangiku.. I want you to stay back for now.. don't interfere unless absolutely necessary"

"But Captain.. This is to dangerous, even for you" Rangiku said ina rare serious tone. "I know most Soul Reapers fight one on one, but this is different.. And besides, I may be lazy, and drink to much.. But I didn't become a Lieutenant for nothing"

"…fine.. But be careful… I already lost Momo…" Toshiro said glancing her way. "In any case.. Lets go"

"Aww… I knew you cared captain" Rangiku said with a smile. "I'm ready when you are.."

"Ok then… Bankai!" Toshiro yelled as his grew ice wings, tails and it encased his feet and hand in ice claws. "Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"

"Well.. Maybe you'll be fun afterall" Nnoitra said, holding out his bizarre duel cresent moon bladed weapons that were hooked to his wrist by a chain. "Me and my Santa Teresa are going to enjoy carving you and your busty lieutenant up"

"We'll see about that" Rangiku said narrowing her eyes. "Growl, Haineko!"

Rangiku's blade turn to ash and shot out around her as she focused her spiritual energy, and the Arrancar lifted his visible eyebrow in curiosity.

"Let's see how you like my ash tornado!" She said, pointing her bladeless hilt at Nnoitra "Neko Rinbu!"

"Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro yelled, sending in a dragon of ice flying at the Arrancar as it was attacked by Rangiku's Zanpakuto.

"Is that all you have?" Nnoitra said, destroying the ice dragon and blowing away the ash. "I certainly hope not"

"_Haineko.. Any chance you can lend a hand?"_ Rangiku asked in her mind. _"I know you can materialize. So stop being lazy and come on"_

"_Oh fine.. If your gonna whine at me" _Haineko said sighing. _" But in return, you have to get me a gigai and take me shopping in Karakura"_

"_You can't be serious?..would you actually behave?"_ Rangiku asked with blank face.

"_Of course.. Just the two of us doing some great shopping…what could be better?" _Haineko exclaimed, smiling brightly. _"Maybe we can get that delicious man Ichigo to go with us"_

"_I'll see what I can do" _Rangiku replied grinning back. _"So are you ready?"_

To anwser, Haineko materialized in the real world next to Rangiku, surprising Toshiro and Nnoitra.

"Who is that?" Toshiro asked confused.

"I'm Haineko… the beautiful, sexy, super talented Zanpakuto of Rangiku" Haineko exclaimed grinning as she posed in a flirty manner. "I'm here to help kill this ugly, good for nothing Arancar"

"What did you say, you stupid cat girl?!" Nnoitra yelled, throwing one of his weapons at the girl who easily dodge it and did a side flip as it shot back to Nnoitra by the chain connecting it to his wrist.

"My my.. That was just sad.. Your so slow" Haniko said, as she materialized a Zanpakuto in her hand so that both her and Rankigu held the same weapon. "If this is all you have, then this will be a cake walk"

"You think so do you?" Nnoitra asked grinning evily. "Lets see if you can back up your boast, little kitty"

"Just remember…she is not alone in this fight.. You also have me and Rangiku to deal with" Toshiro said holding his sword out. " Rangiku…it's time we use _That_ technique.. We've practice enough.. So it's time to use it in battle.. I assume you know what I speak of as well Haineko"

Haineko and Rangiku nodded as they both cried out "Growl!" and sent out streams of ash at Toshiro who then in turn used his Zanpakuto's ice abilities. Using both the ice and the ash he readied himself as he nodded to his partners who acted wordlessly.

"Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro" Rangkiu yelled out and then gathered more energy as she did a follow up spell. "Lights of the fallen, held in place by the shadows of tomorrow. The hand of judgment hold true. Time stops and tears asunder. Blackness spreads and envelops all that stand in it's wake. Bakudo 79, Kuyo Shibari!"

Six beams of light shot out and hit Nnoitra by surprise, holding him as attemped to break free. But this mattered not as the second Kido spell used by Rangiku took affect and created eight black balls of energy that appeared by Nnoitra followed by a ninth that apear in his chest to further hold him.

"Captain!.. Now!" Rangiku yelled next to Hainko.

"Right.. Shinku Taso Hyoheki!" Toshiro yelled, as a multi layered spear of ice formed around the struggling Nnoitra. " I'm not done yet!"

Toshiro shot forward with his sword pointing at the immobilized Nnoitra. "Ryusenka!"

His sword pierced through the ice, kido spells and finally, Nnoitra himself before encasing the Arrancar completely in ice completely before he stepped back, expecting it to be over with.

Just as Toshiro was about to shatter it he heard a muffled voice say "Prey.. Santa Teresa"

The ice exploded, forcing Toshiro, Rangiku and Haineko to jump back to a safe distance. After the debris cleared, Nnoitra was visible again, only different looking then before. He now had four arms instead of two and both sets were cover in bone like material. He also had horns that resembled a crescent moon and the teeth on the remains of his hollow mask extended further down his face .

The most different thing about Nnoitra however, was his weapons. He now had four scythe like weapons instead of two and the blades now resembled the pinchers of a praying mantis.

"This is my Resurreccion…" Nnoitra said with ansty expression on his face. "…and this will be the last thing you ever see"

"Well this isn't good.." Haineko said in a serious tone as she looked at Rangiku. "Now I wish I hadn't beens so lazy and taught you to use my Bankai before now"

"Tell me about it" Rangiku said, with a irritated look on her face. " If we survive this, promise me we can start training for it"

"Deal"

Across town, Shinji and Shawlong were taking their time with their fight, still both using minimum effort and attacks.

"Nice technique, Shinji Harako" Shawlong stated as he blocked Shinji's sword with his own.

"Why thank you, Shawlong Koufang" Shinji said with a grin. "But I'm afraid we'll have to speed things up, or this will never end…Collapse, Sakanade "

Shinji's Zanpakuto changed so that a large ring grew from the end of the handle and allowed Shinji to hold hid sword without actually touching anything. The blade also changed so that the blacde was now wgite with 5 small holes in it that were spaced apart along the blade which was now razor-like instead of like a normal sword.

"That's interesting looking Zanpakuto" Shawlong commented as he released his resurreccion. "Awake and snip, Tijereta"

Shawlong grew strange armor over his arms and chest while his hands transformed into long sharp claws, his mask extended down to cover the entire left side of his face and the short spike like part on the back of his mask grew long and segmented with two claw like appendiages at the end of it.

"Well well.. Nice look pal.." Shinji said as he began spinning his sword around his hand without touching the ring it was in. "But this won't be lasting too much longer I'm afraid…. "

"What are you talking about?" Shawlong asked, as a pink mist began to form around them. "What is this mist.. And that smell?"

Almost as soon as he said that, everything appeared to be inverted while Shinji stood upside-down in the sky grinning at him.

"This is Sakasama no Sekai.. My inverted world where I control everything you see" Shinji said, still spinning his sword around. "Let's see how long you can last in my world Shawlong"

End of chapter 49

Hope everyone likes the differences between the battles here and in the regular continuity. Please read, enjoy, review and ask any questions anyone might have…I'll be happy to answer them by fan fiction messaging if you have an account or by putting your question and the answer at either the beginning or end of the next chapter.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 50

"Bleach™" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

"_This is Sakasama no Sekai.. My inverted world where I control everything you see" Shinji said, still spinning his sword around. "Let's see how long you can last in my world Shawlong"_

"Come on now Shawlong…don't just stand there.." Shinji said with his usual grin as he stood in the air. "Don't make this too easy on me"

Before Shawlong could respond, Shinji shot down at him with his Zanpakuto, and he attempted to move to the left to avoid the attack. However, a large gash appeared on his left side and Shawlong didn't understand how he had been hit.

"You look a little shocked now...did you think you dodged that?" Shinji asked, swinging his sword around his wrist. "This is my world Shawlong.. Up is down, left is right… forward is back, backwards is forwards.. Skcatta ym etapicitna ot elba eb reven ll'uoy"

"What did you say?, that sounded like gibberish" Shawlong demanded. "But beyond that, even if you think your untouchable, I'll still find your weakness"

"So slow… I said you'll never be able to anticipate my attacks.. I said it backwards though.. It's a little skill I've developed for fun" Shinji replied, before disappearing with flash step and reappearing behind him. "Also…Even if there is weakness.. You won't last long enough to find out"

With that said, he cut a long deep gash in Shawlong's back with ease before backing up.

"Well I gotta be honest.. This is just sad" Shinji commented, making Shawlong lose his cool.

Shawlong began striking with his claws as fast as he could trying to hit Shinji only to fail to hit him a single time.

"Boring" Shinji said, grinning widely. "Are you even trying?"

"Don't mock me fool" Shawlong growled, as blue energy gather at his fingertips. "Dodge this! Cero Beam!"

Shinji stood perfect still while Shawlong fired a wide beam of blue energy and.. The beam completely missed Shinji, who just shook his head in disappointment.

"Dodge it?.. I didn't even need to move and you still don't understand Sakanade's power very well" Shinji stated as Shawlong just stared in both anger and disbelief at him. "No mater how skilled you are.. You simply can't adapt to my Sakasama no Sekai…"

"Now then.. I think I've indulged you long enough.." Shinji said as he stopped grinning. "I hope you've enjoyed your life.. Cause this is where it ends"

Shawlong wanted to try again, but felt dizzy and nauseous as Shinji disappeared from view and reappeared on the other side of him releasing his Zanpakuto as large, long gashes appeared on Shawlong.

Shawlong couldn't move or even speak as blood shot out of the wounds and he felt to thee hard ground belong, where his crashed in a pile of broken bones, pooling blood and broken up blacktop.

"Well that was disappointing… I wonder how Ichigo is doing with his opponent?" Shinji asked out loud to no one. "Maybe I'll watch from nearby and enjoy the show.. Wonder if they sell popcorn around here…"

bleachbleachbleachbleachbl;eachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleach

Meanwhile, Ichigo, in his hollow mask and Grimmjow were still going at it using hand to hand combat in the sky some distance away.

"Your pissing me of more and more by the second Soul Reaper!" Grimmjow yelled, as he stood there in the sky with bruises and small cuts all over him. "Tell me what you are with that hollow mask!"

"I'm a Vizard" Ichigo said in a double voice. "…and I'm going to get rid of you Grimmjow"

"You can try.. But I'm not going to sit here and let you!" Grimmjow said pulling out his sword again. "The embarrassment of having to use this on you.. Whatever… Grind… Pantera!"

Grimmjow changed into his Resurreccion form with a flash of blue light and high wind. When it disappeared Grimmjow now had cat like appearance with long blue hair, white segmented armor covering his body, sharp teeth, black hand with claws, markings around his eyes, long cat like ears and tail and blades extending from his arms and legs.

"Like a cat.. I'm going to play with my pray.. Not killing you, but making you suffer.. Just for the fun of it" Grimmjow said, grinning with his sharp teeth exposed.

"Good thing I'm not much of a cat person.. There is one black cat I don't mind, but that's a different story.." Ichigo commented, holding his word out. "Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu"

"Is that it?.. I heard Bankai was the ultimate form of a Zanpakuto.. But your looks weak, Ichigo" Grimmjow laughed before Ichigo left several deep cuts across his chest and then disappeared again from view.

"So much for my Bankai being weak Grimmjow.." Ichigo said, reappearing with blood dripping from his sword.

"_Zangetsu?.. Why is that each time I use Bankai ,the chain is wrapped more and more up my arm? _"Ichigo asked in his mind. _"Is it some kind of evolution of my Bankai as I get better at using it?"_

"_more or less" _Zangetsu replied after being silent for moment.

"_You do realize you'll have to tell him the truth eventually, don't you imposter?" _Ichigo's inner hollow said, looking at the silent bearded man in the inner world with him. _"If you don't then I will.. And this time.. I'll make him accept it"_

"_I fear you are right… though I wonder how he will take that information" _The man said, staring off at the buildings in the inner world. _"Will he accept the truth?.. Or refuse to accept it"_

"_Hard to say.. He's a stubborn one.. Just like me" _The hollow said with a slight grin. _"But if he's to survive his encounter with that fool Aizen.. He'll have little choice but to accept it"_

"_Indeed.." _The older man said, nodding. _"Soon he will have to accept it even if he does not like it.."_

"_Of course old man.." _The hollow said, looking up as well. _"The sooner you step back, and let me tell him the sooner he can accept it and learn about us"_

"_I suppose you are right.. We will tell him.. After this battle ends tonight" _The black haired man said looking over at the hollow._ "Though it will be difficult to explain.. We have to for all our sakes.. He must accept you…. Zangetsu"_

Back in the real world, Ichigo and Grimmjow were still going at it, only now more fiercely then before. Both Ichigo and Grimmjow were covered in wounds, although Ichigo was a bit faster and able to use his Reishi to shield a lot of the damage.

"You shouldn't be this strong against me Soul Reaper.. Is it that hollow like mask of yours? What's the gimmick?" Grimmjow demanded angrily. "Your like an Arrancar.. But the reverse .. A Soul Reaper with a hollow mask.. It doesn't make any sense"

"Not everything can be explained, Grimmjow" Ichigo said, disappearing from sight and reappearing above Grimmjow as he swung his sword downward while it was enhanced with his Spiritual energy.

Grimmjow managed to block it with the blades on his arm, though just barely. He pushed Ichigo back jumped back as he focus his energy.

"You wanna see power?! I'll show you power kid!" Grimmjow yelled out angrily. "Desgarron!.."

Grimmjow slashed his right hand with his claws that glowed with power, in Ichigo's direction and sent blue sharp blades make of Spiritual energy at him. Ichigo held his Zanpakuto and blocked them as they pushed him back with tremendous force.. Enough to push him through a nearby tall building.

Smoke and debris rained down to the street below, making people that were still outside of the building, try to figure out what had happened and what caused the explosion.

Ichigo shot out the other side of the build and skidded across the air with a slightly damaged mask that he repaired with a swipe of his hand. Ichigo breathed hard and saw that his Captain's Haori was torn in areas and so was his regular Bankai outfit beneath it.

"Damn… I'm at about 75 percent power now.." Ichigo mumbled out as he stood upright and looked for Grimmjow. "That attack was really strong and it could have hurt people.. It's a good thing no one was inside it at the moment. .. But the next time might not be so lucky"

"_Come on king.. We can't let this loser defeat us!"_ Ichigo's hollow said inside his mind.

"Easier said then done" Ichigo said back as he flash stepped out of the range of a second attack of Desgarron.

"_Hey, old man.. Teach him a techniques.. One of those techniques from his other power" _The hollow said to his fellow inhabitant of the inner world. _"Just don't tell him what kind of technique it is"_

"…_.sigh.. Very well" _The man said, looking over at the hollow. _"Ichigo.. Listen and listen well"_

"I'm listening.. What is it Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, as he slashed at Grimmjow with his sword again.

"_Focus your Reishi at the guard of your sword… as much as you can.. As if your preparing for a Getsuga Tenshou_" "Zangetsu" said to him. _"When you can hold no more, thrust your sword forward at the Arrancar and imaging your releasing a Getsuga.. And say these words as you do…"_

Ichigo focus his energy until black and red outline spiritual energy flowed around the guard of his sword and he trust it forward at high speed saying the word "Zangetsu" said to him.. "Heilig Pfeil!"

A large, beam of energy shaped almost like an arrow shot from Ichigo's sword and tore through Grimmjow's arm in a spray of blood, leaving it barely attached.

Grimmjow yelled out in pain as his clutch his bleeding arm as he yelled at Ichigo.

"You fucking Soul Reaper!" Grimmjow roared. "I won't let you win.. I will kill you.. Even if I have to die as well!"

"Sorry.. Dying ain't happening for me" Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes behind his hollow mask. "But if killing you is the only way to protect this city and the people I care about.. Then.. Then I might have no choice"

"Don't be a pussy kid!" Grimmjow retorted, suddenly grinning. "Fighting to the death can be fun.. If you put your all into it.. To your limit… And I'm going to push you to that limit!"

"Fine.. But I'm going to warn you now.. If you push me to my limit.. It's going to end with your death" Ichigo said, in a very serious tone with narrowed eyes. "Say goodbye.. Grimmjow"

Before Grimmjow could retort, Ichigo appeared in front of him, grabbed him by his throat and flash stepped away. He reappeared, going at incredible speed, and slammed Grimmjow into the side of a building, leaving a deep impact under his body.

"This is the end for you.. Grimmjow…"

But is it he end?.. We'll find out later.. HA!

While Grimmjow's fate literally laid in Ichigo's hands.. Or hand in this case.. Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto and the materialized Haineko were still battling against the Arrancar Nnoitora Gilga in his Resurreccion form.

All three of them shows signs of battle, although Nnoitora showed the least amount of damage of the three as they stood in the air.

"Come on.. No stalling.. Let's fight!" Nnoitora yelled, as he threw two of his scythe like weapons at Toshiro, Rangiku and Haineko. "Let's have fun now everyone!"

All three of them received long gashes as they attempted to block them with swords, but were pushed back by the surprising force behind the scythes. Nnoitora yanked the bladed back and caught them in his hands as he grinned at them fiercely.

"Hyoryu Senbi!" Toshiro said ,as he flash stepped to Nnoitra and swung his sword at him, created a large wave of ice that hit Nnoitora before swinging his sword again and sending daggers of ice at him. "Guncho Tsurara"

The Daggers managed to just barely pierce the Hierro of Nnoitora..Though not enough to any major damage.

"Captain.. This Arrancar.. We can barely injure him.. How are suppose to defeat him?" Rangiku asked, breathing hard. "Even against your Bankai he's shrugging off your attacks"

"I don't know Rangiku… maybe if my Bankai was more developed then I would be strong enough" Toshiro said, gritting his teeth. "I fear that the three of us alone might not be able to defeat him…"

"Then ask for help.. Duh!" Haineko said, putting her hands on her hips. "Like that hunk Ichigo.. Or Rukia or Renji.. Or the arrow guy.. what's his name..? Uryu"

"As a captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads I should be able to deal with almost any threat on my own.. Or at the very least, with the help of my Lieutenant.. And her Zanpakuto as well" Toshiro said, sighing. "It's not that I'm too proud to ask for help, but I shouldn't have to in the first place… I was considered a prodigy for graduating from the academy so quickly and becoming the 3rd seat of squad 10 upon graduation… I should be strong enough now after all these years to fight on my own.."

"Men…sheesh.. Always trying to be macho.. Even little squirts like this kid" Haineko said out loud. "You've been a kid trying to act like an adult since Rangiku first saw you at that shop in the Rukon District… you need to learn to accept that sometimes.. Problems are too large for you to handle on your won.. And that accepting that you need help is far more grown up then trying to do everything yourself"

"Since when does your Zanpakuto act so adult, Rangiku?" Toshiro said with a ever so slight grin. " Perhaps you should take lessons?"

"Are you done blathering on yet?" Nnoitora asked, spinning his scythes in his hands. "How many times now must I wait for you three to chat?.. Your beginning to bore me"

"Haineko? Tell me.. If you were elsewhere,, would Rangiku still have the full powers of her sword?" Toshiro asked quickly.

"Because I'm not rebelling against her like when I was under Muramasa's control, yes.." She answered looking over at the short Captain. "Why?"

"I need you to go find Kisuke Urahara for me.." Toshiro said, while keeping an eye on the suddenly approaching Nnoitora. "Tell him were facing the 5th Espada.. And despite our best efforts…we need assistance, but the others are busy with their own difficult fights"

"Sure.. Good luck" Haineko said, before flash stepping away to find Urahara's shop.

"Now what Captain?" Rangiku asked in a yell, as Toshiro blocked one after another of Nnoitora's scythes.

"We hold off until help arrives" Toshiro said, pushing the weapons back. "..and we fight with everything we have until then"

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"Third dance! San no mai, Shirafune!"

Rukia yelled as she stabbed her Zanpakuto into the arm of the Arrancar that had finally identified himself as Nakeem Grindina. As soon as she did, ice spread across his arm and she then yanked the blade back, causing the arm to explode in shower of ice and cold , smoky air.

The Arrancar yelled out in pain and Renji followed up that attack by knocking him up in the air with head of the Bankai form of his Zanpakuto.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" Renji yelled blast Nakeem with a beam of bright red energy from the mouth of his Zanpakuto, Hihio Zabimaru.

As the smoke, that occurred as a result of the attack, clear it related a badly burned, one armed Arrancar, crouching in the air.

"Damn…even though we badly inured him.. We didn't kill him" Renji said to Rukia who now stood beside him. "This asshole is really irritating"

"Tell me about it.. We need to…huh? My Soul pager is ringing.. Keep watch Renji" Rukia said, opening her phone. "This is Rukia Kuchiki of Squad 13 speaking.. What is it?… really?.. That was faster the normal.. Thank you…Rukia out.. Renji I'm spreading the word… Gentei Kaijyo has been approved"

"Right on…." Renji said opening the top of his Shihakusho. " Gentei Kaijyo!"

Rukia informed the other Soul Reapers in the world of the living and informed them of the news, causing them to release Gentei Kaijyo as well.

"What is Gentei Kaijyo, Soul Reaper?" the badly injured Nakeem asked, shakily standing up.

" You see.. When a Soul Reaper that has power that's equal to a Lieutenant or Captain enters the world of the living.. They have their power reduced by as much as 80 percent in order to not affect humans.." Renji said with a grin. "However.. By releasing it, we are now at full power and that also means.. That you're in serious trouble…goodbye now…Hikotsu Taiho!"

The Arrancar was vaporized by the beam of red energy, and Rukia and Renji took a deep breath, silently celebrating their victory.

"Good thing Gentei Kaijyo was approved relatively fast" Rukia said, sealing up her Zanpakuto. "But the fact it required that to kill him and he was a just a foot soldier.. That's not good"

"Tell me about it" Renji said deactivated his Bankai. " I hope the others are ok now with Gentei Kaijyo released now and giving them full power"

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"What did your air headed Lieutenant say?" Nnoitora asked narrowing his eyes.

"She said that our power is now increased by 80 percent.. And that your in trouble" Hitsugaya replied, holding his Zanpakuto towards the Arrancar. "Shinku no Kori Yaiba!"

He gathered a large blade of ice and tried to impale Nnoitora when another Arrancar, that was slim with dirty blonde hair, an eye patch and in a uniform that more resembled a lab coat then it did a regular Arrancar uniform, appeared and pushed Nnoitra out of the way and getting impaled instead.

"Who is that?!" Rangiku asked in surprise. "He came out of nowhere"

"I don't know Lieutenant" Toshiro replied, jumping back next to her. "Be they stopped my attack from hitting Nnoitora"

"Tesra! What the fuck are you doing interfering in my fight!?" Nnoitora demanded, pushing the heavily bleeding Arrancar out of the way with a powerful kick.

"Sorry sir.. You were in danger.." Tesra replied, laying in the air. "I followed you here from Hueco Mundo"

"Idiot… you followed me and now look at you.. Nearly dead.. And useless to me" Nnoitora said holding one his scythes against Tesra's neck. "A broken tool is a useless tool… so die.. And stop being a hindrance to me"

With that, he chopped off Tesra' head which fell to the ground far below along with the rest of his body, disintegrating after he landed.

"Captain.. He just finished off his own man" Rangiku exclaimed in surprised.

"I see that…" Toshiro answered, breathing a bit fast. " We need to concentrate on either killing him or holding him of till Haineko returns with Urahara"

"If you wait for him, your going to being a long time I'm afraid" Said the voice of Yoruichi as she appeared only seconds before Haineko did.

"Yoruichi?..." Toshiro exclaimed with widening eyes. "What are you doing here?.. I sent Haineko after Urahara"

"Yes you did.. But Kisuke is busy helping the department of Research and Development with something very important and isn't even at the shop right now" Yoruichi replied matter of factly. "Fortunately for you, you have someone even better.. Me"

"You?.. No offense.. But fighting hand to hand with this Arrancar is suicide" Toshiro said, jumping back to dodge Nnoitora's attack.

"Who said I was going to fight him hand to hand?" Yoruichi said grinning widely and glancing to her waist.

"What do you mean?.. wait.. Is that your?…" Toshiro said only now noticing that Yoruichi wore a short sheathed Zanpakuto on the back of her waist. "A Zanpakuto?.. I've never seen you use yours before"

"It's been a while.. But I'm still as sharp as ever with her" She said, pulling the Zanpakuto out of it's sheathe and holding it blade facing at an angle in front of her. "Claw into ribbons, Oni Kurohyou!"

The sword and some her clothing changed as her spiritual pressure rose and blue Reishi blinded everyone from view of her. After the glow faded, Yoruichi now had a black and purple clawed glove on each hand with 5 blades. The gloves extended up over her wrists and had a cat eye on each wrist. In addition to the gloves she also had a long, black, segmented black and purple tail hand down behind her.

"Wow.. A fellow cat themed Zanpakuto!" Rangiku said, grinning. "Nice"

"Another interference… at least this one has stronger spiritual energy" Nnoitora said, changing targets and going after Yoruichi. "Show me what you can do, woman!"

"Gladly" Yoruichi said, disappearing and reappearing over and over again, only stopping to slash at him with her claws. "How's this for showing you what I can do?"

"How has your Zanpakuto changes so much compared to others?" Rangiku asked, looking Yoruichi's new appearance over.

"It's just the way she is… although all Zanpakuto's change shape to some degree...Oni Kurohyou is just creative like this" Yoruichi replied, disappearing again as she stayed one step ahead of Nnoitra. "Neko no Tsume Danmaku! "

"Hey.. Hold still, you bitch!" Nnoitora comment as he tried to slash at the quick moving Yoruichi. " Shinigami Tatsumaki!"

Nnoitora spun around at high speed creating a tornoado around him with his four scythes that cut through debris as the buildings were torn up and pulled into the tornado.

"He's going to tear this city block apart!" Rangiku stated, looking at her captain. "Even if Yoruichi does defeat him.. It won't mean much if it causes this much damage… and then there are humans to worry about as well"

"I know that Lieutenant… We'll have to attack as well.. Give it everything we have in order end this as quickly as possible" Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes and raising his sword. " Rangiku… you must go all out.. And you too Haineko"

Rangiku and Haineko nodded and activated their swords attacks, sending streams of ash at Nnoitora while Toshiro gathered his energy.

"Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro yelled ending a large dragon of ice shooting out of the blade of his Zanpakuto.

These attacks, combined with those of Yoruichi's, were enough to finally stop Nnoitora's tornado attack. He looked even more pissed then he had, and even had one of his scythes mostly destroyed, which he threw away. He summoned another scythe weapon that grew out of his wrist, and he now had 4 weapons again at his command.

"You four.. Are a lot of fun.. And at the same time.. Really pissing me off!" Nnoitora yelled, his grin now more nasty then before. "What to do, what to do…. If I continue play with you.. I might win.. Or.. I might not… A good battle, but then again.. If I did die here.. Well… I'd be useless to Aizen"

"All the more reason to kil you and here and now!" Toshiro said loudly.

"I'd like to see you try" Nnoitora said grinning. "Let's up the anti.. Shall we?"

Nnoitora then grew another pair of arms from his sides, giving him 6 arms total, and each held a scythe weapon in it.

"Now.. Let's continue" Nnoitora raced forward slashing wildly with all 6 scythes as Yoruichi used her metal gloves with claws to block all of them, sending sparks flying with each hit. "Good, good.. Keep it up.. I'm really enjoying myself now!"

"Same here" Yoruichi said grinning as well. "It's been well over a hundred years since I had

a battle this good"

"Glad I could help you out then kitty" Nnoitora keep moving around her, trying to get a hit on her, but she was incredibly quick and always managed to dodge him at the last second. "Hold still you stupid cat!"

"Now why would I do that?" Yoruichi commented, as she did a spiraling flip over Nnoitora and slash as his back, managing to cut through his skin and draw blood. "I am known as the goddess of flash step.. If I didn't live up to my name then what would be the point of having it in the first place?"

"Then why don't I step it up a level as well?" Nnoitora said, raising all of his scythes.

"I don't think so.. Nnoitora Gilga" Said a calm voice from a Garganta that suddenly opened behind Nnoitra. "Captain Aizen isn't happy with you or the other Arrancar right now.. Your coming back Nnoitora "

"Shit… Aizne's lapdog.." Nnoitora said, releasing his Resurreccion form. "Ichimaru… I guess this means my fun has ended for now. A pity"

"Ichimaru!" Toshiro said wideeyed.

"Gin…" Rangiku said, freezing up. "You're here…"

"Hello Captain Hitsugaya, good see you again" Ichimaru said, grinning. "..and Rangiku, it's especially good to see you again.. You have my sincerest apologies over what happened to Momo…. I truly didn't know that she would die… She was good person and faithful Lieutenant.. Maybe too faithful for her own good"

"Don't you dare talk about Momo!" Toshiro yelled, barring his teeth. "Your just as responsible as Aizen for what happened to her!"

"Well I can't deny that.." Ichimaru said as a expression of sadness crossed his face. "Either way.. Nnoitora .. Were going now.. The others will follow momentarily"

With that, the reluctant Nnoitora and the almost expressionless Ichimaru, left through the Garanta that immodestly closed up behind them.

"Damn it…" Toshiro said, lowering his sword ro his side.

"Gin… why?" Rangiku said to herself as she sheathed her sword.

"This certainly is complicated" Yoruichi commented as she resealed her Zanpakuto. "…and the fights against Aizen are only going to get more complicated I fear"

Ichimaru went on to collect Cirucci, who he found sitting on a roof top eating pizza, and the injured Nakeem who was almost dead. Meanwhile, Grimmjow who was missing most of his left arm and one of his eyes, was still trying to fight Ichigo, who had injuries that were minor compared to the Arrancar.

"I don't wann kill you.. But if you don't give up.. I'll have to" Ichigo said, breathing hard. "So what's your choice Grimmjow?"

"I am a Espada.. The best of the best.. Arrancar number 5.. I shouldn't be so injured against a low life Soul Reaper like this" Grimmjow growled out. "I won't lose.. I can still win!"

"No.. you can not Grimmjow...you piece of trash" said the voice of Ulquiorra Cifer as he stepped through a Garganta. "Lord Aizen is not pleased with you Grimmjow.. And he demands you return to Hueco Mundo at once"

"You.. You were there that day.. With that big Arrancar.." Ichigo said narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"

"As I said.. I am here for Grimmjow, Soul Reaper.. Not that it's any of your business, you trash" Uquiorra said in his cold monotone voice. "Unless you want to die.. You should stand down now.."

"Wanna bet?" Ichigo siad as he flashsteped forward and swung his sword at him.

"Intriguing…" Uquiora said, catching the blade of Ichigo's Zanpakuto in his hand. "Your sword is strong enough to cut me.. My hand is bleeding profusely right now.."

"Let go of my sword!" Ichigo yelled, pouring more spiritual energy into his Zanpakuto. "I'll take you down too!"

"Unlikely.." was alll that Uquiorra said before letting go of the blade with his bleeding hand. "Be gone…Cero…"

Before Ichigo could react, a huge green Cero was fired out of Ulquiorra's finertip and hit Ichigo full force, sending him through several buildings. When Ichigo finally landed he was badly bleeding and could barely see straight with blury vision. He could only lay there barely conscience as Ulquiorra dragged the one armed Grimmjow through the Garganta and close it behind him.

Ichigo couldn't move, could barely speak and was in a lot of pain when he heard the voice of who sounded like Shinji yelling for him.

"Damn it.. Ichigo!" Shinji yelled landing near him. "You better survive.. Or Hiyori's gonna go nuts"

He quickly yanked out his phone and called Urahara's shop.

"Tessai? This is Shinji.. I need assistance now.. It's Ichigo.. He's in bad shaped and I can't move him..his injuries are too severe .." Shinji said, pulling off his jacket and tearing off part it to stop some of the bleeding on Ichigo's arm. "Yes.. Hurry Tessai.. We might need Orihime,.. Get ahold of her.. I'm about 5.. No…make that 6 blocks from the shop"

Tessai arrived within minutes and didn't like what he saw.

"This is bad.. Ichigo you must stay awake.. It is very important" Tessai said, kneeling down and trying to heal some of his injuries. "Ichigo.. You have a piece of rebar impaled through your chest on your left side.. I can't move it or you will bleed to death.. I'll numb the pain as best I can until Miss Yoruichi brings Orihime gets here.. You must hold on though"

"Damn it.." Ichigo said, in lot of pain. "This.. Sucks"

"Don't try and talk.. Save your energy" Shinji said, crouching down. " Just hold on kid"

Orihime arrived, being carried by Yoruichi and went wide eyed at rthe sight of him.

"ICHIGO!" Orihime cried out, running over to him. "What happened to him!?"

"He was on the receiving end of a attack by some strange looking Arrancar" Shiniji said, frowning. "You need to heal him though.. Worry about how it happened later"

"R-right.." Orihime said touching the hair pins on her head as she tried to fight back tears. "Tessai,. I need you to.. Remove the.. Metal before I can…"

"Ichigo.. I'm going to remove the rebar now and it will hurt.. A lot.. So be prepared… you just hold as still as possible " Tessai said, placing one large hand on his should to hold him still. "Are you ready?"

"Just.. Do..it" Ichigo grunted in pain.

"On the count of 3" Tessai said, wrapping his other hand around the metal pole. "..1..2..."

Before he reach 3 Tessai pulled it out as fast as he could, while Ichigo screamed loud enough to wake the dead. As soon as it was free, Orihime activated Soten Kisshun as fast as she could, and begand healing the badly bleeding Ichigo while she had tears running down her face.

"That was close.. Without Orihime's healing powers…" Shinji said, trailing off. "Even if Ichigo is gonna to be alright.. Hiyori's gonna be out for blood over this"

"Miss Orihime.. Are you feeling ok?" Tessai asked, looking aT Orihime who's face was sweating a lot.

"Yes.. Just tired.. I did a lot of training with Hiyori and Hachi before this.." Orihime said, breathing a bit hard. "I'm just low on spritual energy"

"Then heal Ichigo's most serious wound first, and let Tessai here heal the rest" Yoruichi said, folding her arms. "No since in trying to heal all of him if you run out of spirit energy and can't heal him enough"

"Right" Orihime said, focusing on where Ichigo had been impaled and closing the wound up on both sides. "I'll be done in a minute and then he can be moved to Mister Urahara's shop for further treatment"

After a minute or two, Orihime dropped the healing shield and fell back with Tessai catching her.

"There..huff, huff.. I closed the wound.." Orihime said breathing hard and whiping seat from her forehead and neck. "You just…huff.. Need to bandage his other injuries.. .. I'm just gonna close my eyes for a minute"

Of course Orihime was fast asleep inside a minute and lightly snoring which made Yoruichi grin as she gathered up the sleeping girl.

"Tessai.. You bandage up Ichigo and bring him to the shop to heal him the rest of the way" Yoruichi said, looking over at the giant man. "I'll drop of Orihime at Urahara's and then go tell Isshin about Ichigo's injuries..in case he and Ichigo's sisters wanna visit him"

Tessai nodded and began bandaging the now sleeping Ichigo while Shinji stood up and stretched.

"I'll go to our warehouse and give Hiyori the heads up" Shinji said, frowning. "I just hope she doesn't go ballistic "

Of course this is Hiyori, and she did go ballistic, threatening to castrate the Arrancar that injured Ichigo. She also kept growled whenever Shinji came anywhere's near the room at Urahara's shop where Ichigo was resting though, as she blamed him for not helping Ichigo. Of course she's wasn't the only one upset… Ichigo's sisters were also upset about what had happened and Yuzu was opening crying while Karin tried to play it tough, though everyone could tell that she was just as upset and worried as Yuzu was.

Karin even told Hiyori she'd hold the Arrancar down while she castrated him, making the other males at the shop cringe a bit and back away from both of them…yeah, she and Hiyori got along very well.

"So beside Ichigo, Captain Hitusgaya, Rangiku, Renji, Rukia, Yoruichi and Shinji all battling Arrancar… what about the rest of you?" Urahara asked, after gathering everyone minus Ichigo and Hiyori to discuss the outcome of the Arrancar's attack. "What about Chad, Lieutenant Kotetsu, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Uryu?.. Did you 5 come across any Arrancars?"

"Me and Ikkaku did have some good fights against some stronger then average Hollows… but no Arrancars unfortunately" Yumichika said, bruishing his hair back in a feminem way. "Ikkaku has been bitching about not getting any good fights in"

"Bite me" was Ikkaku's only reply.

"Myself, Chad and miss Kotetsu also faced off against a large number of strong Hollows" Uryu said, adjusting his glasses. "They appeared to be drawn to the large amount of spiritual energy giving off by all of the Arrancar and high level Soul Reapers clashing in Karakura"

"Someone should go on another patrol later.. To make sure there are no lingering strong Hollows in the area" Yoruichi said, glancing around the room. "Ikkaku.. Do you mind?"

"Eh.. What ever.. Fine.." Ikkaku replied after a moment. "Maybe I'll ge lucky and get a fight to the death or something"

"In the mean time… Renji.. Rukia.. I'd like for you two to report back to the Soul Soceity and give them a report on the situation with the Arrancar attack and about Ichigo being out of the game for awhile" Urahara said, looking in their direction. " Also.. Tell the Head Captain that myself and Kurosutchi might need more personnel to speed up project Tenkai Kecchu.. He'll know what I mean"

"Sure" Rukia said, standing up with Renji. "If Ichigo wakes up before we get back, let us know"

"Will do, Miss Kuchiki" Urahara replied, nodding.

With that Rukia opened a Senkaimon and her and Renji stepped through as soon as two hell butterflies came to them.

"So what do we do now Kisuke?" Isshin said walking into the room. "Aizen was obviously tesing the waters so to speak…"

"I agree Isshin.." Yoruichi said, frowning. "We'll have to be on guard.. There's no telling what Aizen might do next.. Unless someone wants to go read the script for later chapters and spoil things for everyone…"

"Um.. Right…"

Back in the Soul Society Rukia nad Renji delivered their report to Captain Yamamoto and went back to their own separate squads for the time being. The head Captain decided to call a general Captain's meeting to inform everyone about what Rukia and Renji had reported to him.

"… and Captain Kurosaki was the most severely injured of the group, but then again, he was fighting a elite Arrancar, calling himself an Espada" Yamamoto stated to the captains present in the meeting hall. "According to Shinji Hirako of the Vizards, another Arancar, that had Spritual energy that might have even beeen higher then Captain Kurosaki appeared out of nowhere and was most likely the one responable for injuring him"

"Someone strong enough to injure Ichigo, eh?.. Sounds like someone I wanna fight!" Kenpachi said grinning widly.

"Captain Yamamoto… should I make arrangements to travel to the world of the living to make certain that Ichigo will fully recover?" Captain Unohana asked looking over at the old man.

"That will not be necessary at the moment" Yamamotot stated, opening ine eye to look at her. "Tessai Tsukabishi and the human Orihime Inoue managed to heal him enough so that he is out of danger.. And of course your Lieutenant is also there should further medical treatment be required"

"Understood head Captain" Unohana said stepping back. "Though I insist on a full physical as soon as he returns to the Soul Society"

"That is your prerogative if you wish to do so Captain Unohana" Yamamoto stated before glancing at Kurosutchi. "Urahara requests that the time table for completing Tenkai Kecchu be moved up and in light of this attack I'm one to agree… use whatever resources are necessary to complete the replica and the pillars with Urahara's assitance"

"We are already close to completion on both the replica and the pillars..so I have no doubt that we can finish early.." Kurosutchi stated nodding. "Even if I do have to work more with that insufferable Urahara"

"In any case.. Is there any other immediate business that can not wait?" Yamamoto asked, ignoring Kurosutchi last comment.

"Yes, head captain.. There is the matter of the vacant Captain's postion of squad 3 that has yet to be filled" Byakuya said seriously. "Giving the impending war… it is urgent now then more ever to have all 13 squads at full strenghth which cannot happened with a missing Captain.. Even if the Lieutenant is doing a admirable job on his own"

"If I may sensei.. Considering the time table, I believe it would be prudent of us to ask Rojuro Otoribashi of the Vizard to retake his postion as the Captain of squad 3.." Ukitake said, speaking up. "Giving that he was already a well respected Captain of that squad he would not require the training necessary of other candidates"

"He's got a point, old man Yama" Captain Kyoraku said, agreeing with Ukitake. "I think he's the best man for the job and we should ask him as soon as possible to give squad 3 adequate time to get back to full strength before the upcoming war"

"…very well…" Yamamoto said after thinking carefully about it. "Jushiro… as soon as Rukia Kuchiki is able to, send her back to Karakura town with a formal request to former squad 3 captain Rojuro Otoribashi to return to his postion"

Ukitake nodded and with that, the meeting ended and all the captains begin leaving the large hall.

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In the seemingly endless, sand covered wasteland of Hueco Mundo, The one armed, one eyed Grimmjow,(who was holding the severed part of his arm in his remaining hand) the bored Nnoitora and Cirucci, who was dressed in a strange gothic dress that she had somehow acquired in the world of the living, were all standing in front of Aizen's throne.

Gin Ichimaru was standing beside the throne which was currently seated with Aizen himself and he had his usual creepy, snake-like grin on his face.

"So tell me… why did you believe it was a good idea to go to the world of the living to fight against Soul Reapers, Grimmjow?" Aizen asked, in his usual calm yet creepy tone. "Well?"

"Um.. I uh.." Grimmjow said, whiping blood away from his empty eye socket.

"Is it because you wanted to please me Grimmjow?… you wanted to prove yourself to me perhaps?" Aizen asked, still calm. "But in you got caught up in the moment and went to far, deciding to go Karakura and engage Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Um yes. .that's exactly it sir" Grimmjow said, slightly wobbly from blood loss.

"I see.. So you wanted to prove yourself.. How noble of you" Aizen said, with a smile. "But look at you now Grimmjow.. One eye gone.. And half of your left arm gone as well.. Both areas bleeding profusely… your almost useless to me like this"

Grimmjow didn't have time to respond however, because Ulquiorra suddenly slash his sword upward and cut off the remainider of Grimmjow's bloodly arm. Instead of reacting like some would expect, the blood loss and pain caused Grimmjow to drop forward to the ground in the pool of his own blood.

"Take him away and stop the bleeding before he dies" Aizen said to two female Arrancars dressed in nurse uniforms. "A soon as he is stable.. Bind him, throw him into a room and lock it tightly"

"Yes lord Aizen" the two nurses said in unison, as they dragged him away, grabbing both pieces of his arm to bring with them.

"Have someone clean all this blood off of my floor as well" Aizen said as he turned to the remaining Arrancar. "Now.. As for you two.. You've always been loyal to me.. So I'm going to over look this indiscretion this one time...Nnoitora. You were clearly just bored.. And you Cirucci… just wanted to explore Karakura once before I destroyed it…. I'll forgive you both.. But don't let this happen again.. Or else"

They both nodded and left the room to go about their own business. It wasn't long before the short, skinny Arrancar Lilynette caught up with Cirucci.

"What's with the clothing?" she asked raising an eyebrow as she poked her. "Is it true you went to the world of the living? Did you see the hunky Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"One question at a time Lilynette sheesh" Cirucci said, folding her arms. "I like this type of clothing… Yes I went to the world of the living.. And no didn't see the Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki"

"Oh man.. That sucks balls" Lilynette said, crossing her arms. " I wanted too se if the rumors about him being cool were true or not.. Next time you go to the world of the living yo better take me with you.. Or a least get me a photo of of him"

"The next time we're in the world of the living.. It will be all out war with the Soul Reapers.." Circucci commented, coming to a stop. "Or should I say when you go to the world of the living.. Even if I haden't pulled that stunt just now, Aizen wouldn't want a naturally evolved Arrancar fighting in his war when he has his own Arrancar created by experiments instead"

"We'll I'm natural.. Sort of anyways.." Lilynette said, stopping by her. "I'm part of that lazy ass Stark.. But I'm also my own person… so I'm not completely natural.. Stark's the only Arrancar with his powers sealed up in another Arrancar.. Me"

"Told you weren't normal brat" Circucci siad , walking into the the oom next to them which happened to be hers. "Go bug Stark.. I wanna relax for a bit"

"Who you calling brat, you goth lolita bitch!" Lilynette yelled pounding on the now closed door. "If you had balls, I'd be kicking them into your stomach right now!"

"Bite me, you flat chested little brat" came a voice from inside the room. "Go away now.. I just said I wanna relax.."

"Fuck you" Lilynette sadi , fuming as she stomped down the hall until she got to Stark's room and found him laying down and snoring loudly. "Wake up you lazy ass!"

Instead of waiting for him to reply though ,she jump up and stomped both of her feet into his balls as hard as she could which sent him falling out of bed and puking on the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you Lilynette?" Coyote Stark asked groaning from the floor as he held his stomach. "Who wakes up someone like that?.. And who got your panties in such a twist anyways?"

"My panties are not in a twist.. It's just that.. That idiot Cirucci.. She got to go to the world of the living.." She said, huffing and crossing her ams. "She got to go and didn't even do anything other then get some human clothing.. What the hell is wrong with her?"

"You just wanted to see that Soul Reaper that Aizen got an interest in right?" Stark said, sitting on the couch still holding his stomach. "Why are you so interested in him anyways?"

"I don't know.. I was heard he was cute.. But also strong.. And unlike you, not a lazy ass" she replied sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. "Who knows.. Might be fun"

"He's a Soul Reaper.. To him your just a Arrancar.. And enemy.. He'd probably kill you fist chance he got" Stark said, finally feeling the pain start to ease.

"I'd just appeal to him with my cuteness" Lilynette said, posing and trying to look sexy. "Oh please don't hurt me Mr. Soul Reaper.. I promise not to fight you"

"Yeah.. I'm sure he'd fall for that, Idiot.." Stark said laying down again. "In any case, your bound to see him during the war.. Just don't run up to him and start humping his leg the first time you see him.. Though it certainly would catch him off guard at least"

"Shut up start.. Your at least smart enough to know I was joking about having sex with him right? Sheesh.." Lilynette said standing up. "Stark.. Are you sleeping again!? Get some motivation you fucking moron!.. I'm going to go put that hot sauce stuff in Ichimaru's food again and then go find something productive to do"

"Have fun" Stark said, yawning. "Don't piss anyone off though"

"Fuck off" Lilynette said before slamming the door closed.

"Man.. She's such a drag sometimes" Stark said, pulling out the latest issue of a manga magazine that Ichimaru had gotten for him the last time he was in the world of the living. "Gotta admit though.. She does make things interesting around here at least… damn it ..she drew dicks throughout my magazine again.. I wish she'd stop doing that.. I hope Ichimaru is just as fond of her pranks"

In the throne room of Aizen…

"Who keeps putting hot sauce in my ramen!" Ichimaru yelled, running around trying to find something to drink while Aizen just watch and smiled at his misfortune. "My tongue is on fire!"

"Amusing.. I wonder when he'll figure that Lilynette is the one who keeps doing this?" Aizen said aloud as he sat back and continued to watch Ichiamru, who had grabbed one of the lesser female Arrancars dressed in a maid uniform and demanded something to drink for his burning thoat and tongue . "I hope not.. This is far too interesting to stop from happening.. And it does provide a way of entertaining me for now.."

"Lord Aizen" Ulquiorra said, appearing silently beside Aizen. "Szayelaporro reports that the Hogyoku will 50 percent awakened in approximately 2 weeks.. Just as you ordered to be informed of.. And .. What is he doing?"

"Lilynette put hot sauce in his ramen again.. It's quite amazing to watch him react in pain" Aizen said grinning slightly. "Oh and thank you for reporting to me.. You may leave for now, Ulquiorra"

"As you command, Lord Aizen" He replying emotionlessly as he walked away.

"Just a little bit longer." Aizen said, narrowing his eyes but still grinning. "It's sure to be entertaining when the Soul Reapers see the start of my grand experiment I've planned using the Hogyoku…make sure all of you at home keep reading to find out what I do.."

"Who is he talking to?" one of the female maid Arrancars asked another.

"Not sure.. Buy he does that all the time.. It's best not to question it" The other female Arrancar maid stated, shrugging.

Wow.. 50th chapter.. Holy frowning chibi Ichigos, batman!.. Break out the party hats… and strippers.. and monkeys.. If nothing else you at least need monkeys… robot monkeys… anyways.. Please read, enjoy and if you could, review as well. See you soon with the 51st chapter.. Oooh!… you got any questions ask away. And I shall have Lilynette answer.. As punishment for putting red hot, hot sauce in people's food.. Little brat…

"Who you calling brat asshole?!"

Asshole huh? Maybe I won't have you in future chapters..

"I was only kidding, relax.. put me in future chapters"

Stop with the hot sauce.. And I'll think about it…


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 51

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

Ichigo Kurosaki was grumbling as he sat up in his bed in the world of the living, with his snoring girlfriend Hiyori shifting slightly in her sleep next to him. He carefully leaned down and brushed the hair out of her face before kissing her on her forehead, making her smile slightly. He leaned back and carefully got out of bed, and yawned as he got dressed in a pair of school pants, black t-shirt, white button up dress shirt, socks and a wristband.

Ichigo and Hiyori had some time off after the healing from his wounds and chose to spend the time off it in the world of the living with his family. Rukia had decided to stay at his place, and he smirked remembering how she had given a heartfelt fake story to Ichigo's dad and sisters to convince them to let her stay there. Ichigo honestly didn't know why Rukia had done that considering Ichigo's dad was former captain and knew all about Rukia's status as a soul Reaper and Karin could probably see her in Soul Reaper form as well.. Even Yuzu could at least sense her.. And apparently her spiritual awareness was growing due to Ichigo not being in the world of the living and allow her spiritual energy to grow instead of being smothered by his.

"Oh well…at least it was entertaining.." Ichigo said out loud, as he walked over and gently shook Hiyori's shoulder to wake her up. "Come on babe…time to wake up"

"Huh..wah…Ichigo?…mmm I'm awake, I'm awake" Hiyori said, opening her eyes, and yawning loudly. "How much time do I have to get ready for that school shit?"

"About… an hour and a half, give or take a few minutes" Ichigo said, smirking as Hiyori gripped his hand and played with his fingers. "I'm already ready so I'll do you up a plate of food for breakfast for when you join us down stairs, ok?"

Hiyori nods before sitting up and pull him towards her to kiss him deeply, their tongues sliding against each others before pull back and letting the small drop of spit connected each other's mouth fall away.

"Not that I mind in the least, but I thought I said last night that we couldn't do anything this early.. You know how my crazy dad is and I don't want him or my sister walking in on us" Ichigo said, cupping Hiyori's face gently. " I'll make it up to you when we get a chance to though ok, babe?"

With a grin, Hiyori told him he better and asked if he was all healed now.

"Isane and Ururu came over last night to check on me.. I think you were in the shower at the time" Ichigo replied, kissing her on her forehead. "My sister Yuzu and Ururu seem to get along with her quite well by the way… didn't expect that"

"Oh yeah?.. What do you mean?" Hiyori got out of bed clad in only her underwear and started getting dressed.

"She and Yuzu talked for a bit while Isane gave me a quick check up" Ichigo, grabbed his books and piled them into his school bag. "Yuzu invited her over to teach her how to cook since she said she was interested as well"

"Huh.. Didn't see that coming" Hiyori said, as she pulled on her school skirt, black t shirt and a white dress shirt that she left unbuttoned. "I'm surprised Ururu wasn't all over you last night instead"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo stopped at his bedroom door and looked inquisitively his girlfriend. "Why would she be all over me?"

"No wonder it took you so long to figure out I liked you.. Your denser then your dad's thick skull sometimes" Hiyori finished up by pulling on some loose socks and walked over towards Ichigo. "She obviously has a crush on you.. But once again you the only one who hasn't noticed.. Just like that loud mouthed, ramen obsessed blond kid is about the blue haired girl that has a crush on him in this anime I've been watching"

"Wait. Your serious? Ururu has a crush on me?… Since when?" Ichigo asked as Hiyori walked past him and over to the bathroom.

"Since she met you… but like I said your dense.. Good thing for you that's it's cute and that Ururu has no chance with you" Hiyori said before walked inside the bathroom. "Watch her next time we're at the shop…and you'll see it.. You go ahead down, I gotta piss first"

Ichigo almost shook his head in slight disbelief at her unladylike behavior as he walked out of the room to go eat breakfast. Ichigo sensed his dad's spiritual pressure stir and using his instincts he ducked a roundhouse kick from his dad, and slammed him, face first into the doorway.

"Not bad my son…your getting good at sensing me!" Isshin said with a bleeding nose. "Next time you won't be so lucky though!"

"Man our dad is an idiot.." Karin said, shaking her head in annoyance as she ate pancakes at the dinning room table. "Oh...morning Ichigo...where's Hiyori?"

"Hey Karin…she'll be down in a minute" Ichigo said, sitting down while Yuzu at some breakfast in front of him. "Morn' Yuzu"

"Good morning Ichigo…and good morning to you to Rukia" Yuzu said cheerfully, looking from Ichigo over to the just seated Rukia. "Did you sleep well, consider this is a strange new place?"

"Oh.. yes of course.. All thanks to my good friends Ichigo and Hiyori" Rukia said in her fake school girl tone.

"You really don't need to use that stupid, fake, good girl act" Said a still yawning Hiyori as she walked in and dropped into a seat next to Ichigo. "Anyways…I don't know about you...but I'm still tired…"

"Tell me about it…" Ichigo said in annoyance. " I hate having to go back to school for right… but at least we get too see some of our other friends again.."

Later that morning at school, Hiyori, Ichigo, Rukia and Tatsuki who they had ran into on the way there, greeted their friends in the usual manner of Ichigo clotheslining Keigo, giving a wave to Mizuiro, a high fight to Tatsuki and a friendly greeting to Orihime, Chad, and Uryu. Michiru also waved at Ichigo with a slight blush much to his surprise.

"It's good to have you three back.. And have you ok again Ichigo " Orihime said with a bright smile. "How long can you stay this time?"

"We have a about a week off here.. Maybe more. Depending on what Aizen does" Ichigo said as he sat down and dropped his bag onto his desk. "With all that crap that's been going on…I intend to enjoy every minute of it too.."

"Same here" Hiyori said, sitting down and laying her head on her desk. " I intend to sleep for at least a day straight.."

The others laughed slightly before the teacher came in and started class, unaffected by the sudden return of Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia thanks to Rukia using a memory replacement on Mrs. Ochi.

During the morning classes, Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori's soul phones all beeped, signaling a hollow presence.

Ichigo, and Rukia looked at one and other with nod, and prepared to leave class to take care of it. Ichigo took off his school jacket and laid it over the shoulders of the half asleep Hiyori, whispering that she should stay there and rest, and that he and Rukia would take care of it. Tatsuki wanted to go to, and although Ichigo was tempted to let her, Rukia had insisted that Tatsuki need more practice before any real combat.. that it was safer to her to wait at the school. Tatsuki agreed.. Mostly.

Ichigo and Rukia raced out of the class, not stopping to give the teacher, who was busy writing on the chalkboard , any reason for leaving. They ran out, using Gikongon to keep their bodies safe as they transformed into Soul Reaper form. Ichigo left his Captain's Haori with his body, to keep it safe, since Captain Kyoraku told him old man Yamaoto might not like it if his Haori got messed up.

"What the?…Ichigo!" Rukia yelled over to him as they jumped across the sky. "Look at this!"

"What's up?" Ichigo asked as they came to a stop and waited for her to explain.

"The number of hollows is steadily increasing..30..40..50 hollows!" Rukia replied with wide eyes. "What the hell is going on?!"

"I don't know…but we better split up and stop them" Ichigo said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Go and be careful"

Rukia nodded, and the two of them flash stepped away in two different directions.

Meanwhile, on a nearby riverbank, a short girl in a pink and flowered kimono was sitting with a special Reishi masking hat that obscured her head.

"Kenryu!.. I'm hungry!" The girl said fidgeting around. "And my posterior is becoming sore from sitting so much.. Not to mention this stupid hat!"

"My apologies, my lady.. But our Gigai are unfortunately not ready yet" A soul reaper with black-blue hair who appeared in a crouching position. "Until they are ready we can not get you anything to eat.. You have my sincerest sympathies"

"As for your hat...you know you must keep it on to mask your spiritual pressure until your special Gigai is ready" Kenryu said, standing up. "Until we get our Gigai it is therefore imperative that you stay by my...My lady!…where are you?!"

The kimono wearing girl, who had disappeared from Kenryu's side, was walking around trying to find food, when she heard hollows roaring and saw Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki killing the hollows in the sky above her.

"Who's that?….HEY!, YOU THERE!" The girl said, yelling up at Ichigo. "Excuse me mister.. Are you the Soul Reaper in charge of this town?"

"A little girl's soul?...what the hell?" Ichigo wondered out loud, jumping down in front of her. "Unless you wanna be eaten, you better get your little ass out of here, these hollows are dangerous!"

"No, it is I who is the one who want to eat...I'm starving here" The short girl said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Um…ok" Ichigo said, confused slightly. "Um…who are you anyways?"

"That is not important… the important thing her is that I'm hung-" The girl started to say before tripping and falling forward and falling.

Ichigo flash-stepped forward into crouching position and stopped her from falling by putting his hands on her shoulders. Though safe from hitting her face, her Reishi suppressing hat , fell off onto the ground.

"Are you ok ?" Ichigo asked starring up at the blond haired, green eyed girl, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Um…uh y-yes.. Of c-course" The girl said, stuttering and blushing as she stood upright. "Th-thank you"

"Sure, no problem" Ichigo replied ,still unsure about the situation.

"Anyways…you we're about to bring me something to eat, so be quick about it please" the girl said, ignoring the roars of hollows that were getting louder and louder.

"Stay back, and be quite kid" Ichigo said on alert and looking around the area.

"Grr.. I said I want food !" The girl said ,tightening her little fists.

Not far away from the area, Kenryu and a tall, muscular and silent Soul Reaper with sunglasses ran through the sky with a large pack of hungry hollows only several feet behind them.

"We need to find her quickly…." Kenryu said to the man as they ran as fast as they could. "And was it necessary to attract so many hollows for this?…this is a bit overkill you know"

They soon spotted the kimono wearing girl hanging around he neck of a orange haired Soul Reaper, and the two of them appeared to be arguing about something.

"Lady Rurichiyo!" Kenryu said, as he and the tall Soul Reaper neared Ichigo and the girl with the hollows giving chase.

Kenryu grabbed Rurichiyo off of Ichigo's shoulders and took cover behind Ichigo.

"Take care of them Soul Reaper" Kenryu said, looking at Ichigo before him, the tall silent Soul Reaper and Rurichiyo disappeared into the sky using flash step.

"What the hell?.." Ichigo demanded out loud to know one before pulling his sword around and raising in upward to gather red and black spiritual pressure.

"Wait Kenryu! That Soul Reaper! He's going to be eaten!" Rurichiyo exclaimed as Kenryu held onto her and continued to run to safe distance before stopping. "You have to go back and help him! Please!"

"I'm sorry lady Rurichiyo, but your safety is more important.. And beside it's his duty to protect you, even if it results in his death" Kenryu said holding the squirming girl.

"But….that intense visible spiritual pressure…in his sword...what's he doing?" Rurichiyo asked with widened eyes.

"You hollows area pain in the ass!.. Ichigo said swiping his sword downward and unleashing a large dragon shaped wave of red and black energy at the hollows. "Getsuga Chi-doragon-sho!"

The dragon shaped wave of energy wiped out the entire group pf hollows that was there, and Ichigo then rest his over sized sword on his shoulder.

"Stupid small fries…" Ichigo said, before looking for the girl and the guy from before and spotting them in the sky and flash stepping in front of them. "You there, the shorter guy… what was the big idea of luring a group of hollows to me?"

"Your ok Mr. Soul Reaper!" Rurichiyo exclaimed finally getting out of Kenryu's hold and jumping onto Ichigo and hugging him. "That was incredible! You took them all down with a single attack!"

"Um…yeah… I guess" Ichigo said, letting the girl hang onto his shoulders. "Now then, I want answers buddy "

"I am in no obligation to tell you anything at - ooff" Kenryu cried out after Ichigo elbowed him in his face. "What the hell!"

"You we're being to damn annoying…" Ichigo said scowling. "I expect some answers as soon as I deal with the other hollows in the area.. stay here, with him, ok kid?"

Ichigo handed the disappointed girl over the man who was still holding his face in pain, before disappearing from sight to kill the other hollows in the area. Ichigo landed at the same time Rukia appeared, already wielding a released Zanpakuto in her hand.

"Ichigo, why haven't you finished them off yet?" Rukia asked, as the hollows raced at them.

"I was busy with those three over...huh? Where the hell did they go?" Ichigo asked rhetorically. "Never mind… let's end this… you ready?"

"Yes" Rukia said, letting her spiritual pressure rise as Ichigo did the same.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren"

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The two attacks from their users destroyed several dozen hollows each, though many more still remained in the area. They were about to attack the other hollows when blue beams of energy, a white colored beam of energy and nearly invisible waves of wind tore through the some of the remaining hollows. Ichigo and Rukia looked down to see Chad with his armored arm, Uryu with his Quincy bow, Hiyori and Tatsuki with their released Zanpakutos and Orihime who stood there giggling and waving.

"What the hell are you 5 doing here?" Ichigo asked in surprise. "Especially you two, Uryu and Tatsuki?"

"You we're taking too long… and there number of hollow was quite large…" Uryu said, readying his bow. "That and your girlfriend and Orihime took turns kicking the back of my chair till I agreed we should go look for you two"

"I'm tired of being on the sidelines" Tatsuki said crossing her arms.

"Yeah well, lets just finish this up" Ichigo said, frowning. " I wanna get back to class and find out where those two guys and that little girl went to"

After exterminating the hollows, Ichigo and Rukia landed back on the ground near their friends.

"That was a lot of hollows….you think maybe it was hollow bait?" Rukia asked looking at Uryu.

"Hmm...possibly…the composition seems different…but the results were the same" Uryu said, thinking for a moment. "At least a Menos wasn't attracted this time"

"I guess even we have good luck sometimes" Ichigo said as they all returned to school.

"What's a Menos?" Tatsuki asked inquisitively.

"Really, really big hollow that's dumber then a door nail but fairly powerful" Ichigo answered simply. "Trust me, your better off not ever seeing one"

Later on, after finishing the rest of the school day, Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Orihime and Tatsuki were slowly making their way home. Rukia was going through her phone, and the incisive beeping was annoying Ichigo and Hiyori.

"What the hell are you doing?! You've beeping your phone since we got back to school!" Ichigo said, covering his ear with one hand while the other remained inter laced with Hiyori's. "It's pissing me off"

"I'm trying to find out some information on those two Soul Reapers and the "little princess" you encountered earlier.." Rukia said, not looking up from her phone. " I'm hoping I can find something"

"A princess!? Wow what was she like..? Was she all like "You shall kiss my royal feet and be grateful for the honor, peasant!" Orihime said, holding an invisible scepter. "Or something like that! hahahaha"

"We'll she certainly looked like a princess… though her manners were pretty rude" Ichigo said, frowning. "She kept demanded I feed her…in any case, it's not like I remember what her name was...so what are you going to find?"

"As you and Hiyori are aware…or should be aware of anyways…All souls that enter the world of the living have to use a Senkaimon, and when one is used, it's recorded...meaning there should be record of two soul Reapers and a princess entering the world of the living" Rukia said, glancing upwards at Ichigo. "The problem is finding their record is like finding a single needle is a ocean of nearly identical needles"

"Don't you mean like finding a needle in a haystack?" Ichigo asked as they neared Orihime's apartment.

"No, finding a single unique piece of metal in a pile of straw is relatively child's play compared to finding one needle among millions of other similar shaped needles" Rukia said, back to him. "Keep in mind, that the Soul Society has several Soul Reapers per town in every city on earth...that's millions of Soul Reapers using Senkaimons every day…even isolating it to a single day, were still talking about at least a few hundred thousand gate travels to check through"

"Holy shit…no wonder it's taking so long" Hiyori said, wide eyed. "I knew there was a lot of Senkaimon activity… but not that much…guess should have paid more attention in history class at the academy "

"That's… uh… useful, I guess" Ichigo commented, as they dropped off Orihime and Tatsuki and then walked to Ichigo's place. "Let's just get home"

A little while later, Rukia was kneeling on Ichigo's bed still looking through her phone, along with a large manual sitting on her small lap while Kon, who had been staying at Ichigo's was looking through a magazine.

"Uh… this is the most confusing manual I've ever seen! Who the heck wrote this damn thing? Ganju Shiba?" Rukia said, picking up the manual and throwing at the wall. " I think Urahara gave it to me on purpose.. Knowing it was confusing!"

"It was probably Hiyosu or Rin from squad 12 who wrote that manual…" Hiyori said as she sat a few feet from her on Ichigo's bed as well, propped up against wall with her arms folded. "That or Nemu…she doesn't know a lot that isn't technical data related… that idiot Kurosutchi really needs to let her be more human like or something… it's really creepy how doll like she acts"

"Got that right…" Ichigo said sitting at his desk chair, with no where else left in his room. " Just stop that beeping…it's just as annoying now as it was earlier"

"I know.. But this manual doesn't tell me how to turn it off.. At least not that I've found yet" Rukia narrowed her eyes at the book before her. "I swear I'm going to shove this phone up Kisuke's ass!"

"Calm down.." Ichigo plucked the book out of Rukia's hands. "Let's me see it"

"Hey.. Who the heck are those people?" Kon was looking by the window with his magazine forgotten. "Huh. Are they moving in next door?"

"Who are you talking about Kon?" Ichigo asked walking over to him. "No one's moving in.. son of a bitch.. That guy down there.. He was one of the guys from earlier.. With that rude little princess"

"Let me see" Rukia nudged him to one side to try and get a good look. "That guy down there? The one in the white and green robe?"

"Let's go see them.. Find out what the hell that was with the hollows earlier" Hiyori said jumping off the bed and yanking the door open. "You coming or what?"

Ichigo looked briefly at Rukia shrugging his shoulders before following Hiyori out the door, down the steps and over next door.

"Hey you.. Your from earlier" Ichigo said as he, Hiyori and Rukia walked over to the man with blue-black hair. "I want answers on why you lured Hollows to Karakura"

"Well well.. If it isn't the lowlife from earlier.." The man said in a dry tone folding his arms. "What do you want?"

"Don't pretend to be as stupid as you look" Ichigo replied narrowing his eyes. "Who the hell are you guys and why did you gather Hollows like that?!"

"I don't have to answer any of your questions kid" The man looked away from Ichigo.

"Wanna bet!?" Ichigo retorted, barring his teeth. "I demand answers.. Before I break your damn jaw"

"I have no idea what your talking about kid.. You must have me confused with someone else" The man closed his eyes with his arms still folded.

"Bullshit.. You said you recognized Ichigo from earlier… too late to pretend you don't know him asshole" Hiyori spoke up from beside Ichigo.

"Ichigo! It's you!" Said a female voice belonging to a short blond girl in a red and white kimono. "It is good to see you again. And that you are unharmed from the hollows from earlier. .thank you for coming over to welcome me to the neighbor hood"

"That's the princess?" Rukia inquired, looking at Ichigo. "She does sound like noble"

"Wait a second… I how do you know my name?.. I never told you" Ichigo said with wide eyes. "Who told you my name?"

"Ever hear of research kid?" The man answered for the girl.

Ichigo growled at the man and stepped up to his face "Look you asshole-"

"No you look, you insolent peasant.." The man held his hand up, blocking Ichigo. "It should be clear that there's a world of difference separating us and the likes of you.. If I have need of you, I'll tell you"

The man then walked away and over to the girl that was trying to get by a incredibly tall and muscular man that was also present with the hollows earlier.

"Lady Rurichiyo.. You must get inside. It's late and hollows like the ones earlier will be around.. it's not safe for you" The mans said crouching down. "You should go back inside for now"

""But.. Hey Ichigo.. Come on.. I'll give you the grand tour of this place.. And you can tell me how you defeat those hollows earlier" Rurichiyo waved to Ichigo as she spoke, smiling the whole time. "Your friends can come to…I'll have some tea prepared for us"

"Now listen my lady it's.. uh.. Much to late to have guests tonight.. Maybe. Some other time.. Now"

"No..no no no no no!" Rurichiyo said, shaking her fist. "I want Ichigo to visit.. If he doesn't visit. Then.. Then. I'll go visit him at his house.. Where your not at Kenryu"

"Now be reasonable, my lady" The man down identified as Kenryu exclaimed. "You can't simply leave the house so late at night.. And certainly not go to a strangers house"

"Then I guess Ichigo will be visiting me here" Rurichiyo said grinning as she walked past Kenryu and grabbed Ichigo's hand. "Come on.. I'll show you and your friends around"

Before he could say anything the short girl pulled Ichigo along to the house while Rukia and Hiyori followed with confused expresiosn on their faces.

"You sure this girl is a princess? She sure doesn't act like it" Hiyori glanced at the now Kenryu who was crying in defeat. "Then again.. She does has everyone one wrapped around her little finger like a princess would"

"_What is it with me and short girls?.. They're always all over me" _Ichigo thought to himself as Rurichiyo dragged him through the mansion and showed him, Hiyori, and Rukia all the rooms.

After a while, Rurichiyo dragged them to a room with a floor table and cushions and then order Kenryu to make tea for everyone.. Which he did… while glaring at Ichigo.

"So….Um..Rurichiyo was it?… why are you here?.. In the world of the living?" Ichigo asked as she sat next to the small girl. "Any particular reason?"

"Actually… Kenryu and Enryu just said it would be good for me to get out and have a vacation away from the Soul Society" Rurichiyo stated looking over at Ichigo. "You see, I am the next in line to lead the noble Kasumioji clan and Kenryu said that I should travel now when I'm able to because when I take over the clan, I'll probably be too busy to do these sorts of things"

"Oh I see.." Ichigo sat back with one of his palms on the floor behind him while he took a sip of tea that had been set out by Kenryu.

"Oh, maybe you can stay over tonight Ichigo" Rurichiyo casually said out loud, making Rukia spit out her tea in a long stream that hit Ichigo square in his face.

"What the hell Rukia! That was hot tea, you little bitch!"

"S-sorry!.. It's not like I was trying to do that. But.. You heard what she said right?" Rukia yelled back, blushing from embarresement of the situation

"Yes I heard her. I'm sitting right next to her.." Ichigo pulled his shirt up and whiped the tea off of his face, unaware of that Rukia, Hiyori and even Rurichiyo were all blushing and staring at his six pack. "Now then.. I can't stay over Ruichiyo.. I already have two guests at my house and I can't just abandon them to stay at the house of a person I barely know"

"_Not to mention what people would think if I stayed the night at the house of a little girl_…" Ichigo thought cringing. _"Bad enough my girlfriend looks like a kid as it is"_

"Oh I see.. That does make sense.. As a host, you can not simply walk out for another engagment" Rurichiyo stated, nodding in understandment. "It is both of these two? Do you have.. Two girlfriends?"

"WHAT!.. No I don't have two girlfriends.. I only have one girlfriend and that's Hiyori" Ichigo stated with a red face. "I don't have time for two girlfriends.. I barely make time for one as it is"

"_How quickly he's forgotten that he did have two girlfriends.. Even for short time.. And seemingly every girl we come across falls in love with Ichigo at first sight"_ Hiyori thought, shaking her head. _"Soifon stil make googly eyes at Ichigo every change she gets"_

"In anycase.. I need to get home" Ichigo stated standing up trying to regain his dignity. "But if you need anything.. You can let me know"

Rurichiyo stood up as well and smiled at Ichigo. "Right.. Well then I wish you farewell for now, Ichigo"

Ichigo nodded and left the house with Hiyouri and Rukia to get back home, leaving Rurichiyo with Kenryu and Enryu.

"So are we ready for tomorrow Kenryu?" Rurichiyo asked looking up at him.

"Yes we are , milady" Kenryu replied, nodding. "Thanks to Kisuke Urahara, we are all set"

"Very good.. As it is late and we must get up early starting the day after tomorrow from what you said earlier I should probably retire for the night" Rurichiyo stated, standing up with Kenryu's help.

"Yes.. Your right lady Rurichiyo.. Enryu's already prepared your bed for you and set out your nightwear" Kenryu walked with Rurichiyo to her room and opened the door for her. "Do you require assistance getting ready for bed?"

"I'm far too old for that anymore… I'd like to get dress by myself from now on" Rurichiyo stated, furrowing her eyebrows. "If I need any assistance, I shall call for you"

"Of course" Kenryu stated, secretly very proud of her. "I shall be back when your done"

Back over at Ichigo's house, everyone including Ichigo, Rukia, Hiyori, Isshin, Yuzu and Karin all ate dinner and shortly afterwards went to bed. Rukia decided to sleep on the couch rather then Ichigo's closet again though she wouldn't state the reasons. That left Ichigo and Hiyori in his room alone and Hiyori decided to take advantage of that.

"Your all healed up now. And were alone.. Together.. So what do you think we can do?"

Hiyori climbed on him, with her legs straddling either side his waist. "Any ideas cross your mind?"

"You know we shouldn't.." Ichigo said, with his mind protesting his words. "What if everyone hears us.. Like my sisters"

"I put up a sound barrier that I had Hachi teach me.." Hiyori said grinning with a red face. "Which means you and me can do…whatever we want"

Ichigo wrapped his arms around Hiyori as she lean into him. Their lips met and their mouth ravaged one and other as they kissed each other deeply. Ichigo slid of Hiyori's jacket and began kissing her down her neck causing her to moan. She reached up and pulled out her hair ties, tossing them before sliding Ichigo's shirt off.

Ichigo's lips returned to her neck as soon as his shirt was off and his hand slide up and down her back, reaching her butt which he squeezed and pulled her closer to him. He slid his tongue against her neck and placed kisses down her neck and collar bone.

Hiyori groaned and quickly yanked off her white shirt and red bra for Ichigo who took the invitation and laid her down under him before he her kissed down further till he reached her breasts. She held his head their as he sucked, kissed and licked her for a bit before leaning her back more and kissing her down her stomach, and past her navel.

Ichigo reached her waist and slide down her pants, pushing them down to her ankles. Now with almost no restrictions, Ichigo placed open mouth kisses on her waist and decide to go down further to where Hiyori was practically begging him to go.

Outside of Ichigo's room a annoyed Karin was walking to the bathroom in her night clothes which consisted of t-shirt and boy's boxers. She paused momentarily when she heard some muffled moaning sounds coming from her brother's room.

"Honestly… can't they keep their hands off of each other?" Karin stated while sighing. "The last thing I wanna hear is my brother while's he's banging Hiyori.. Hope he's using a condom at least.. He's too young to be dad, and I'm too young to be an aunt"

bleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleach

The next morning went fairly routine.. Well… as routine as it can go for Ichigo, his family and two free loaders all trying to get ready for school.

"Morning Ichigo" Rukia said with a small wave as Ichigo exited his room already dressed, with Hiyori right behind him looking uncomfortable as usual in a school uniform. "Morning Hiyori"

"Morning"

"Whatever.. It's too fucking early to be up"

"I have to agree that getting up early it's something I didn't miss from the world of the living" Rukia stated, as she walked down the short hall and down the stairs to the lower level.

"Yeah… though school's easier in some ways compared to running my squad" Ichigo commented as he and Hiyori followed Rukia downstairs.

"No one better look up my skirt or I'm breaking some jaws" Hiyori stated, walking down the stairs.

After a quick breakfast that started with Ichigo, and Hiyori arguing and fighting with Isshin, and ended with Yuzu surprising everyone by loosing her cool and screeching at everyone to sit down and eat.

After a breakfast in which no one dared to speak, Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori made their way out the door to school while Yuzu and Karin finished getting ready to go to their own school.

"Gotta say.. Before now I would have never said I saw any proof that Yuzu was related to the rest of you" Hiyori said after they were a ways from Ichigo's house. "Man did she explode… proof positive that she's Karin twin"

"Yeah.. I think I've only heard Yuzu yell like that maybe one other time since she was born" Ichigo agreed, nodding. "Sorry about that Rukia.. Probably as far removed from a breakfast in the Kuchiki clan as can be huh?"

Rukia shrugged her shoulders, nonchalantly "There's no reason to apologize, Ichigo.. I've seen far worse… growing up in the Rukon district, you'd have to have been blind and deaf not to notice arguments from it's residents"

"Oh yeah.. Forgot about you mentioning that" Ichigo stated, nodding. "Well we better get a move on.. I hope Kisuke took care of changing the school records for us so I can go this week and not have to deal with any of their bull"

"Your close to being late!" said a loud female voice as the three approached Karakura high school's main gate.

The looked up and saw Tatsuki and Orihime standing by the gate with their school bags.

"Huh? Oh.. Morning Tatsuki.. Morning Orihime" Ichigo said giving a slight wave. "How's it going?"

"Morning to you too strawberry.. And to you too Rukia and Hiyori" Tatsuki said waving back as she and Orihime walked up to them.

"Morning Ichigo, morning Rukia, morning Hiyori!" Orihime said smiling brightly. "Are you feeling better Ichigo?"

"Yeah.. A little sore.. But fine for the most part.. Gonna have a scare though and I still got bandages on my arms here" Ichigo replied, holding up one of his bandages arms. "I'll be fine in no time though.. I heal fairly fast"

"That's good.. I was really worried Ichigo" Orihime stated, with sad look on her face.

"Same here.. Not as much though.. I knew you'd be fine.." Tatsuki stated shrugging. "He's too stubborn to die that easily"

Ichigo gave a half smile as he shook his head. "Yeah.. Guess I am.. Although it was closer then I like to admit"

"No arguments there" Hiyori chimed in. "Lets just get inside already.. The sooner we do, the sooner the school ends "

"Regardless of how quickly we go inside.. School won't start for almost ten minutes" Ichigo said, walking ahead of everyone. "Plus, we still have school tomorrow.. And the next day.. And every day this week"

"Ehh,… bite my ass" She replied, as she and the others caught up with Ichigo. "On second thought…I already have bite marks from you on my neck.. I don't need you biting my ass too"

Ichigo went red in his face, but took a deep breath and continued walking inside the school. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response, short stuff"

Hiyori glared at Ichigo halfheartedly. "When I'm more awake.. I'm gonna kick your ass, strawberry"

"Love you too Hiyori" Ichigo replied, without looking behind him which made nearby girls in the hall makes aww sounds.

The group of friends made there way to their classroom and just as Ichigo predicted, Keigo came running down the hallway like a maniac at him.

"Ichigooooooooooo!"

Without missing a beat, Ichigo jumped forward slightly, catching his arm around Keigo's neck, and dropping him to the floor in a wrestling like move.

"TKO" Mizuiro stated as he appeared next to everyone. "Looks like Mr. Asano is as lively as ever"

"Oh, Hey Mizuiro.. Good morning" Ichigo said as Keigo tried to tap out of Ichigo's tight grip on his neck with his arm. "How's it been going?"

Mizuiro said good morning to Rukia, Hiyori, Tatsuki and Orihime before answering Ichigo. "Not much dude...pretty normal for the most part.. Although.. You, Hiyori and Rukia have missed a fair amount of high school lately.."

"Yeah.. I noticed that too" Keigo added as Ichigo finally let go of him and stood back up

_That's strange...the school wide memory replacement should have worked on Mizuiro and Keigo too…unless… _Rukia thought to herself. _Unless their spiritual energy has grown enough for them to have been unaffected by it.. _

"Keigo.. Mizuiro…Have you two seen or heard anything strange lately?" Hiyori asked suddenly, clearly having the same thoughts as Rukia.

"Strange?.. Like what?" Keigo asked, tilting his head to one side.

That can't end well.. Rukia thought, not making any attempts to stop the conversation.

"Like.. Well.. We'll talk at lunch… all of us" Hiyori said, as she walked on to the classroom where Chad was already sitting.

The school morning went fairly routine, and then came lunch. Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro all met on the rooftop to eat lunch and continue the talk from the morning.

"So…this morning you said we were going to talk about something?" Keigo asked as he opened his lunch and started eating.

"Like I asked this morning, ,have you or Mizuiro seen or heard and strange things lately that you can't explain.. Strange people with chains on their chests.. Or strange thing in the air" Hiyori answered in a serous tone. "Like during that live spirit hunters filming.. Did you hear anything then?"

"Oh.. You mean you heard that too?" Mizuiro asked, speaking up. "I tried to ignore it.. Chalked it up to a sound effect by Don Kanonji's production crew…your saying it was something else?"

"I am.. Far removed from a cheap special effect" Hiyori replied. "What about you Keigo?"

"Well not at that show.. But I have been hearing strange things lately at night.. And.. I thought I saw what looked like a well.. I'm not sure what I saw.. But it was big had a white face and was flying in the sky" Keigo said, looking nervous. "It was when there was those explosions in the city that wrecked several buildings across the city...the ones they can't explain yet.. I tried to forget I saw it"

"I've seen similar things too.. But I just ignored it as well" Mizuiro added, looking up from his cell phone.

"I was right… looks like exposure to Ichigo's spiritual pressure has effected more then just Tatsuki here" Hiyori said, taking a seat on the ground and grabbing her lunch. "Ichigo… Since they can both see Hollows it stands reason they can see Soul Reapers.. Lets check to make sure.. Go ahead and change"

"The head captain's gonna kill you both.." Rukia commented from beside Ichigo.

Ignoring Rukia, Ichigo used a Gikongon to separate from his body while Hiyori explained to the calm Mizuiro and the freaking out Keigo about Soul Reapers.

"So..um…DOES ANYONE ELSE HERE THINK THAT THIS IS INSANE!?" Keigo yelled out with a freaked out expression.

"So you have a problem with me, Tatsuki, Rukia and Hiyori being Soul Reapers?" Ichigo asked neutrally.

"No.. but you can't really blame Mr. Asano for being a little freaked out by all of this" Mizuiro replied while Keigo ran around in circles yelling until Tatsuki kicked him in his stomach and sent him rolling across the roof.

"So are you going to be perminently living in this Soul Society place after your done dealing with ..who did you call him again?.. Arzen?.. Unzin?" Keigo asked, as he got up holding his sore stomach. "What ever his name is.. Are you going to stop coming here after you defeat him?"

"It's Aizen… and ..I'm not sure.. Probably though.. At least on a regular basis.." Ichigo confirmed. "I do get vacation time that I can spend here in the world of the living.. But I'm probably going to use that for holidays and special occasions"

"Oh.. Well that sucks.." Keigo stated, looking a bit depressed. "This whole Soul Reaper thing is really confusing"

"Your not the only confused by it.. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the life of being a Soul Reaper too" Tatsuki stated as she satnect to Orihime eating her normal lunch while cringing over Orihime's bizarre lunch. "I only got to see the Soul Society place one, so I understand it as about as much any of you do"

"Maybe you'll visit it at some point.. Once we tell the head captain about you that is" Ichigo said, sighing. "I just know he's not going to be happy"

Rukia opened a juice and took a long sip before looking over at Ichigo "That's the understatment of the decade, Ichigo.. Making a human into a Subsitute Soul Reaper.. And using the Zanpakuto of a decease Lieutenant to do it as well is certainly something he might be a little angry over"

"Well…What's done is done... Besides.." Ichigo trailed off for a moment "… We're going to need all the help we can get when we face Aizen"

"There's no way the old man will let Tatsuki fight I nthe upcoming battle against Aizen and his forces" Hiyori said, taking a bite of a rice ball. "She too inexperienced as a Soul Reaper to be allowed to"

"Then why is Ichigo allowed to? He's only been a Soul Reaper for a few months!" Tatsuki stated, somewhat angerly. " I'll be just fine by time we face Aizen.. I'm already the second strongest female in all of Japan after all"

"You don't get it kid…" Hiyori said in a rare serious tone. "This Hogyoku object that Urahara created and Aizen has possession of, is so powerfull that it breaks down the barrier between a Soul Reaper and a Hollow.. It created us Vizards, nearly killed us… not to mention that Aizen was able to fool everyone for over a hundred years and pretty much walked out of the Soul Society with a single scratch while simultaneously injuring powerful Soul Reapers with little to no effort… your not ready.. None of us might be ready"

"Not stopping him, isn't an option " said Ichigo as he glanced around at everyone. "Though what Hiyori said is true.. Your not going to be ready to fight in the upcoming battle Tatsuki"

Tatsuki didn't reply this time, she just stared at Ichigo with a hard glare.

"_Do they think I'm a child?.. I will be fighting I this war.. No ifs, ands, or butts" _Tatsuki thought to herself while maintaing her glare at Ichigo. "_I'm not stupid enough to walk into something I can't deal with.. I can't believe Ichigo doesn't trust me."_

"_Please.. No more complaining about everything.. Your disrupting your inner world" _Said a female voice inside Tatsuki's head. _"Ichigo's right… we're not ready to face someone like Aizen or hos forces"_

"_Huh?.. Who said that.. Sounded familiar.." _Tatsuki thought, glancing around.

"_What do you mean "who said that?".. It's me.. Tobiume" The Zanpakuto spirit said in a slightly frustrated tone. " I'm talking to you from your inner world.. Remember? Ichigo explained to you about your inner world where I'd reside"_

"_Oh sorry.. Kinda still getting use to having another ...person, live inside my soul" _Tatsuki said in her mind. _"But if your part of my soul now shouldn't you be rooting for me?.. Encouraging me to get stronger and fight along side Ichigo and the others?"_

"_Well I wasn't born from your soul, I became part of your soul so this is very different compared to Ichigo who's Zanpakuto __**was**__ born from his soul" _Tobiume explained. _"It doesn't help that your personality is so opposite of my original wielder, Momo Hinamori "_

"_Well sorry for not being like this Momo person.. I'm Tatsuki Arisawa.. And I'm my own girl.. We'll have to learn to get along" _Tatsuki thought, nodding her head slightly in the real world. _"Deal?"_

"_Deal.. But that doesn't mean we'll be fully ready for the war.." _Tobiumereplied, taking a seat on a floor cushion in her inner world. _"That doesn't mean we wont try though.. It's kind of refreshing to have a wielder that actually wants to get stronger instead of depending on others and not doing much on her own"_

Tatsuki continued eating her lunch in the real world and began sorta listening to Orihime describe a dream she had where she became mechagodzilla and was battle against a giant block of possessed tofu. _"Was this Momo person lazy?" _

"_No.. not lazy, but msot of her sabilities she aquired like with Kido, were like second nature to her.. She didn't have to put a lot of effort into it" _Tobiume stated with a sigh. _"Then, after she joined squad 5 she pretty much became a love sick lap dog to that asshole Sosuke Aizen… she relied on him and her childhood friend, Captain Hitsugaya for most things.. And let herself become weak and dependent on others too much"_

"_Don't worry.. We'll get strong together and kick some Aizen ass!" _Tatsuki said with a mental grin. _"Right, Partner?"_

"_Right" _Tobiume agreed with a smile.

bleachbleachbleachbleachbl;eachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleach

Meanwhile, out side of a certain store in Karakura…

"So this is the shop that fruit cake owns huh?" Said a tall, very busty women with black hair pulled back in a purple hair scrunchy. She was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt with purple sleeves, tight black jeans, black tubber boots, a brown cap with goggles and work gloves. "Man.. She wasn't kidding when she said his store was strange.. Makes my place look like a castle"

"Well well.. So you finally stopped by" said the voice of another women, that was dark skinned and helda cat-like grin. "Shop looks like crap huh?"

"Got that right" The women said, adjusting her hat. "But enough small talk.. You said you had something important to talk about.. Involving my past… So get on with it.. I do have a kid at home sleeping and I don't wanna leave him alone"

"Don't worry, this won't take forever. .because a certain person is going to be doing most of the explanation instead of me.." The dark skinned women stated, still grinning. "So come on inside and we'll talk. The sooner we do, the sooner you can get home.. So what do you say?"

"This had better be worth it… especially if it involves bringing up my past" The first women said crossing her arms under her large breasts.

The dark skinned women slid open the shop door and grinned as she stood in the doorway. "Trust me, it is"

"Well then lead the way already.. Yoruichi "

To be continued…..

Sorry it took a while.. Just been busy.. I hope you enjoyed it.. Please review it if you can.. And be honest (not nasty) but honest… as in constructive criticism.. Oh and do me a favor everyone.. Another Fanfic writer who follows this story, a user by the name of Dark Souls of the Wolf, put of a story that I helped a bit with.. Please check it out and give him some reviews if you could.. It's called "Wolf saves Naruto"

If anyone else on here who follows me wants me to plug your story let me know..


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 52

"Bleach" and all it's Characters, and elements (with the exception of the few characters and attacks I created exclusive to my story) are owned by Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot, and Shueisha Publishing of Japan… please, if you can, support the series, by buying the DVDs, Manga and other merchandise like I do …

It was the next day after Ichigo, Hiyori and his friends had talked about Soul Reaper related things at lunch and Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia were making their way to school. It was a normal morning with Ichigo scowling, Hiyori complaining and Rukia reading a romance manga while Ichigo would occasionally grab her shoulder and pulling her out of the way of incoming street poles that she didn't notice due to being so into her manga.

They eventually managed to get to school, where Keigo did is usually greeting and got knocked on his ass by Ichigo. As soon as they walked into the classroom though, Ichigo was on the receiving end of being knocked down for a change Ichigo sat up a ways and opened his eyes to find the small grinning face of Rurichiyo Kasumioji a she sat on him.

"Good morning Ichigo" Rurichiyo said smiling. "Is it not great that we are in the same classroom?"

"Uh… yeah.. Sure.. Um.. Since when are you enrolled in high school though?" Ichigo asked, rubbing his head. "Are you even old enough to be here?"

"I'm enrolled since now.. Thanks to Mr. Urahara that is" Rurichiyo replied, still smiling brightly.

"Urahara?.. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that Mr. Hat and Clogs is involved" Ichigo said, while face palming. "By the way.. Could I get up now?"

"Huh?.. Oh sure.. My apologies Ichigo" Rurichiyo stated , getting off of him with a slight blush.

"Don't worry about it…" Ichigo said waving it off as he walked into the classroom, and glaring at everyone who was staring at him.

"Kurosaki…" said the glaring Kenryu as he stood at the front of the room with the big silent guy Enryu and the teacher Mrs. Ochi.

"Um.. You.. What's your name? I don't remember" Ichigo replied somewhat awkwardly back, as he made his way to his seat with Hiyori and Rukia in tow.

"Alright class have a seat so I can introduce you to out three new transfer students" Mrs. Ochi said, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Go ahead you three.. Tell everyone your names and a little about yourself if you feel like it"

The three did as asked but only Rurichiyo said anything beyond just her name. Rurichiyo and Kenryu then decided to field questions since so many of the students had them. Kenryu seemed to ignore most of the questions and the ones he did answer were vague at best which only ended up annoying everyone. After taking some questions, they finally took seats and Rurichiyo insisted on sitting near Ichigo.. Which wasn't easy with Hiyori sitting to Ichigo's right and Rukia to his left. She settled on a seat in front of him which people like Keigo stated was a bit unfair while Kenryu was just plain unhappy with it.

At lunch, Rurichiyo, Kenryu and the silent Enryu joined Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia and the others on the roof which led to Keigo once again complaining until Hiyori and Tatsuki growled at him and gave him the evil eye which quickly shut him up. All things considering, it was a fairly normal lunch again, except Rurichiyo occasionally asking Ichigo things about the world of the living.

After the rest of school past which was way too long in Ichigo and Hiyori's opinions, they headed home and by time they reached the final few blocks before Ichigo's house, it was down to a still fairly large group, consisting of Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Rurichiyo, Kenryu and Enryu.

Kenryu suddenly walked near Ichigo and whispered so that no one else could hear him "Ichigo… can I have a word with you?"

"About what?" Ichigo said raising an eyebrow at him.

"Something rather important.. But Rurichiyo can't hear our conversation.." Kenryu whispered back.

"Sigh.. Fine.." Ichigo replied back. "After she goes to sleep tonight, come get me for whatever it is.. Better be important though"

"I assure you it is…" Kenryu stated before falling back near Rurichiyo again.

Ichigo opened the door first and got the privileged of almost getting drop kicked by his insane father. Fortunately, thanks to all his training and battles, dodged the attack and uppercutted him all before one could blink.

"TKO" Hiyori said as she and Rukia entered the house. " Gotta wonder if he'll ever learn"

"I'm finding it hard to believe he was a captain in the 13 court guard squads.." Rukia commented as she walked past the now laid out Isshin.

"Good afternoon Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia…." Yuzu said, appearing from the kitchen. "How was school?"

"Same boring stuff as usual…" Ichigo asked, walking over to the table. "Hey. .where's Karin at?.. She doesn't have soccer practice today.. Not as far as I remember anyways"

"Oh.. She wasn't feeling well… and went to her room to lay down" Yuzu replied, in a worried tone. "She wouldn't tell me what was wrong though.."

"Not feeling well?" Ichigo asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm going to go check on her,.. Maybe she'll tell me"

"Good luck" Yuzu called as he went up stairs. "I hope it's nothing serious…"

Ichigo headed upstairs and stopped in front of the room that Karin and Yuzu shared where he gave a few knocks before speaking "Karin?"

"Go away Yuzu.. I told you already" Karin answered from inside her room.

"Do I sound like Yuzu?.. It's me Ichigo" He said with a slight amused tone for a moment. "Yuzu told me you weren't feeling well"

"Ichigo?… it's… it's nothing really" Karin answered after a moment.

"It's not nothing.." Ichigo said back, as he took taken a hold of the door knob. "I'm coming inside.. I'm not asking.. I'm telling you.."

Ichigo opened the door to find Karin in her bed, with the covers pulled over her, facing away from him. He walked over to the bed and carefully sat down on the edge of it, next to her.

"Come on.. Tell me what's wrong Karin" Ichigo said, trying to sound gentle. "Your my sister and I love you… the last time you were sick was when that spirit of that boy was stuck in the bird.."

"It's not the same as then.. It has nothing to do with spirits this time" Karin said, still not moving from under her covers.

"That's good to hear.. But it still doesn't let me help you.." Ichigo said reaching out and putting his hand on her head. "Whatever it is, I wanna know so I can help you"

"I… I appreciate that Ichigo.. Really.. But this isn't the type of thing you can really help with" Karin answered, shifting slightly. "I'm .. I'm glad that you still look out for me and all.. But this is…Well.. It's embarrassing and not something you can help with"

"Embarrassing?.. This is the Kurosaki household we're talking about… the place where my dad screamed to the picture of mom when I hit puberty…" Ichigo said, shuttering slightly. "Trust me.. Whatever it is.. I won't make fun of it.. I give you my promise as your big brother"

"Fine… it's my period.. Ok? My first period.. You sure you still wanna help me with it?" Karin said rolling over and facing Ichigo.

"Is that all it is?.. Sigh.. I thought it was something serious" Ichigo said finally relaxing, until he saw Karin glare. "Relax.. I know it's serious to you, I just meant I'm glad there's not dangerously wrong with you"

"…"

"Ok look, I'll admit that as a guy and not a girl I can't fully sympathize with you having your first period but you know you can come to me with anything, and I'll still do my best to help you in anyway if I can" Ichigo said, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was with talking about it. "That said, the best advice I can give you that I think will help you, is for you to talk to Tatsuki"

"Talk to Tatsuki?.." Karin asked, looking up at Ichigo.

"Yeah.. She's a girl, so she's been through this already. And the two of you are a lot alike.." Ichigo said trailing off. "Given both of those things, I think the best thing to do is for you to talk to her about this. I'm your brother and I'd go to hell and back to help you, but in this instance, I think it's best to talk to another girl who been through this and has a similar way of thinking as you do.. In fact, if you want, I can call Tatsuki and ask her if she can come over because you have something important to discuss with her"

Karin looked hesitant for moment but then crawled over, wrapped her arms around Ichigo's waist and rested her head on his lap. Ichigo smiled and stroked her hair, thinking how rare it was for Karin to act ..well...like Yuzu.

"If you tell anyone about me laying like this.. I'll kick your balls into you stomach" Karin stated, while laying fairly still.

"Trust me, I wouldn't have told anyone anyways" Ichigo replied, with a grin. "We both have reputations to uphold.. And I've already let mine slip a bit as it is"

"Thanks, Ichigo" Karin said with a slight smile. "You're weird sometimes, but your still a great brother"

"Thanks.. I think" Ichigo replied shaking his head slightly. "You want me to call her, or do you want to call her yourself?"

"I'll call her…" Karin answered, reluctantly taking her head of off Ichigo's lap. "If Yuzu's still worried, just tell her you took care of it and that.. That I'll probably talk to her later"

Ichigo nodded and got up, walking over to the door, pausing after he opened it. "Next time, make sure to come to me if something's wrong, instead of me having to come ask you… even if it is embarrassing, I'll still listen no matter what's on your mind"

"Sure" Karin said, before tossing pillow at him. "Now get out and stop the mushy crap already"

Ichigo just stuck out his tongue at her before leaving and closing the door behind him before heading back downstairs.

"Ichigo.. How's Karin?" Yuzu asked as soon as Ichigo reached the bottom of the stairs. " Would she tell you what was wrong?"

"Relax, Yuzu.. She's fine" Ichigo said patting his sister on her head. "She said she'll probably tell you later… oh and Tatsuki might come over for something later and I might see if she wants to stay for dinner"

"Why's Tatsuki coming over?" Hiyori asked, as she sat on the living room couch.

Ichigo waked over and leaned down, before whispering in her ear, briefly, before standing up straight again.

"Oh that…yeah.. It's been so long since my first, kind of forgot how scary your first is" Hiyori commented with a slight glaze of red across her cheeks. "Anyways… what's for dinner tonight?.. I gotta admit she's a pretty good cook, for a human"

"Maybe you could get some pointers from her on cooking" Ichigo said, sitting next to her. "I'm not claming to be a world class cook either, but the last time you cooked something I swear it came to life"

"Your exaggerating, dumbass" Hiyori said, smacking him with a flip flop. "It didn't come to life.."

Ichigo shook his head and muttered to himself. "Close enough…"

Soon enough, Tatsuki showed up and went to talk with Karin while Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori get homework. Well, more like Ichigo and Rukia did homework while Hiyori copied off of Ichigo because she didn't feel like learning much about Japanese history...Ichigo couldn't understand why she needed to learn some of it at all, especially since she had lived there for over a hundred years and had seen lot of the things the books talked about first hand… her reply was that she was lazy and didn't feel like it.

Later on, Tatsuki said she couldn't stay for dinner because she had to make sure Orihime ate a proper dinner instead of something weird like she usually did. After the others all ate dinner, Ichigo decided to go outside and wait to see what Kenryu had wanted to talk about that was so important. As Ichigo reached for the front door however, he got a strange feeling… a feeling that he should have his Soul Candy on hand for some reason. Following this gut feeling, He went and grabbed his soul candy dispenser with the hollow mask on it, that Hiyori had gotten him a while back, before heading outside.

It was rather warm outside, thanks to it being almost summer, as Ichigo walked outside and came to stop, while looking up at the sky. It just getting dark and some stars were beginning to become visible and Ichigo had admit that taking a moment to look at the stars, enjoying the peace and quiet while not worry about fighting monsters was kind of nice sometimes.

After waiting outside for almost 15 minutes, Ichigo wondered if Kenryu had either forgotten about wanting to talk to him or Rurichiyo was still awake. He was debating going over to the house next door himself when he felt he huge surge of strange spiritual pressure from next door. A few moments after feeling it, Hiyori and Rukia came jumping out of his window, landing near him already in soul form.

"You feel that that too?" Ichigo asked as he got out his soul candy, popped it into his mouth and separated from his body. "It was from next door.. We need to check it out"

Everyone nodded and leapt over the fence and landed in the air with swords drawn as they look around. Suddenly a flash of light appears and crashes into the roof of the house with a loud crash. Ichigo growls and flash-steps over to the roof and see Kenryu running in Soul Reaper form to the same area as Ichigo jumped to.

"Kenryu!" Ichigo yells, looking around. "What the hell just happened?"

"That doesn't matter right now" Kenryu replies back, eyes narrowed. ""We have to find Lady Rurichiyo"

"Rurichiyo?.. Fine" Ichigo said nodding and jumping into the hole in the roof. "But after we find her, I expect some answers"

Kenryu nodded as they landed inside the house and find Enryu carrying Rurichiyo.

"She's safe.. good.." Kenryu said breathing a sigh of relief. "I'll leave him to you Ichigo"

"Him?" Ichigo asked as Hiyori and Rukia finally caught up with him. "Who are you talking a-"

"That guy over there, moron" Hiyori said pointed over to the opposite are that Ichigo was looking.

Ichigo looked in the direction of Hiyori pointing and saw a strangely garbed man wielding a even stranger sword that appeared to have a mirror like object in it. The man raced in the direct of Enryu making Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori flash-step in front of him, blocking him.

"Your after the girl aren't you?" Rukia asked, watching the man carefully.

"Rurichiyo?.." Ichigo asked, barring his teeth at the man. "What the hell do you want with her?!"

Instead of answering, the man swung his sword at Ichigo, who easily blocked it with his Zanpakuto. The man turned his sword, which caused a bright light to be shown, blinding Ichigo momentarily. He used the opportunity to slash at Ichigo, giving him a long, painful cut across his arm. Hiyori growled and gave the man around house kick to his face, sending him flying backwards into a chimney. The man got shakily to his feet after dropping to the roof and readied his sword again. He man attempted to use the mirror to blind them again but Ichigo used flash step to appear in the sky above him and used a large, black Getsuga Tenshou, that shot down and forced Hiyori and Rukia to quickly move out of the way. The man, raised his sword trying to block the attack that he barley noticed at the last moment, but it's didn't do any good. The attack caused a huge explosion that enveloped the man and the area part of the roof he was standing on as Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia regrouped away from the area.

"Did I injure him?" Ichigo asked, glancing over at his female companions. "Or did he escape my Getsuga?

"Somehow, I don't think he got away from that" Rukia commented somewhat dryly. "I'm pretty sure your Getsuga destroy him…Whoever he was"

"Wait.. I killed him that easily?" Ichigo inquired with raised eyebrows. "I wasn't trying to kill him.. And I tried holding back my spiritual energy level in that attack… guess I didn't hold back enough"

"That's not what's important right now, Ichigo" Hiyori said, cutting in. "That man was after Rurichiyo.. And I'm pretty sure that Kenryu knows why"

"Uh.. Yeah.. Let's.. let's go have a chat with out "friend" Kenryu" Ichigo agreed, putting his sword on his back. " So we can find out what's going on here"

With that, Ichigo, Rukia and Hiyori, flash stepped away to find Kenryu, Enryu and Rurichiyo, who had ended up at Urahara's shop. As soon as they arrived at the shop, Ichigo made sure they called up Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad and Uryu as well. Once they were all gathered at Urahara's shop, Kenryu reluctantly agreed to tell them what was going on.

"It's a bit complicated but.. Essentially.. Not only is Lady Rurichiyo a member of a noble clan as you already know.. But to be more specific, she is heiress of the Kasumioji clan" Kenryu said, sighing.

"The Kasumioji clan!" Rukia said loudly. "Are you serious?"

"Rukia?.. Do you know who that clan is?" Ichigo asked looking over at her.

"Yes.. Of course I do…" Rukia replied, with wide eyes. "The Kasumioji clan is the most powerful clan in the Soul Society, next to the four great noble clans.. What is the heiress doing here?"

"It was for her safety… you see… a man named Gyokaku Kumoi is behind numorous attmpts to assasinate lady Rurichiyo in order to get control of the clan" Kenryu said, sighing heavily. "Her mother somehow died in child brith and then her father became ill from strange sickness that climed his life as well and although we don't have proof, I believe that Kumoi was involved in their deaths as well"

"I've gotten the impression that Rurichiyo doesn't know any of this .. Does she?" Ichigo asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. "She truly believes she's in the world of the living for a vacation?"

"It… telling her that seemed better then worrying her.." Kenryu replied after moment. "Lady Rurichiyo has a had a lot of so called "Accidents" over the yesrs that have led to her almost getting killed each time.. And in order to try and give her childhood that is free from this, we believed that not telling her about how bad the situation is, was the best for her state of mind"

"… I can kind of understand your reasoning to a degree.. But at the same time.. Shielding her from everything might not be the best thing to do" Ichigo said trying to remain calm. "She's obviously not stupid and will eventually find out that you've been lying to her.. Which might make her find it hard to trust you.."

"I.. I understand what your saying.. However what would you have me do? Tell her that people are trying to kill her?" Kenryu replied, folding his arms. "Me and Enryu have been watching over Lady Rurichiyo since she was first born and have tried to raise her right.. Give her a good childhood. How would she act knowing someone wants her dead?… telling her would shatter her life.. And take away her change of growing up properly"

"Maybe.. But things can't continue as they are" Ichigo retorted. "I defeated the man sent to assasinate her. But it was propably because he wasn't expecting a Soul Reaper Captain to be next door to where shewas staying… even with Hiyori, who's captain class In terms of power and Rukia.. Who's to say the next assassin doesn't succeed"

"I know.. Which his why I need you to look after Lady Rurichiyo.. As her bodyguard" Kenryu said, making Ichigo stare with a open mouth. "You and your human friends may be the only ones who can protect her"

"…why are you asking me now?.. Instead of when you first arrived the other day?" Ichigo finally asked after getting over the slight shock of the request. "You wait until after the ones behind this know about my presence tosek for help?.. How stupid are you?.. And for that manner.. Your lucky I happened to be living next door or you wouldn't have the chance to ask for my help now"

""Actually.. We had Urahara rent out this house for us, knowing your lived next door before hand" Kenryu revelaed, shocking everyone and not just just Ichigo. "Everyone knows about your exploits in the Soul Society and how strong you are.. When I heard you were in the world of thwe living, me and Enryu bought Lady Rurichiyo here and tested you to see your strength first hand. Once we confirmed you'd be abekl to help ,we contacted Urahara, who was already making us gigai, and had him purchase the home next to where you lived in order to make sure you'd be nearby in case the assassins came after Lady Rurichiyo again"

"You gotta be fricken kidding me.." Ichigo groaned, smacking himself in the forehead out of frsutration. "Why do I always have complicated shit like this happen?"

"Cause you have that strange luck, Ichigo" Urahara said, popping into the room. "The only question is.. What will you do?"

"… not sure.. I came here for a small break and got dragged into a battle with Aizen's Arrancars…" Ichigo stated, groaning as he did. "Dealing with this on top of Aizen.. I don't know.. I'm not the kind of guy who can just sit by and let a little girl live in fear of being killed though…"

"So what are we going to do?" Hiyori asked, leaning close to Ichigo. " We going to help her or not?"

"It might not be your choice for very long" Rukia chipped in. "If, or most likely when, the head captain discovers that your helping a nobel clan with internal clan matters like this, he'll order you to stop immediently or face reprimands"

"So your saying I shouldn't help, just because the old man might get his panties in a twist?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.

"I'm not saying you shou;don't help.. Nor that I won't help you either for that matter.." Rukia said sighing. "I'm just making sure you know what to expect.. Things are different when you're a Soul repaer captain, instead of a substitute Soul Reaper like before… you have certain rules to follow"

"Yeah, yeah… rules" Ichigo said in a slight mocking manner. "If I followed rules set by the Soul Soceity, you would have been executed for no reason a little while back.."

"So we're helping her" Hiyori said with a slight smile. "I figured as much"

"Yeah.. We'll help her" Ichigo said briefly closing his eyes, before opening them and showing off steeled eyes. "…and we'll stop this Kumoi guy too.. No matter what"

"Now there's the Ichigo we all know" Urahara said with a slight grin as he tipped his hat. "Something tells me things are going to get very interesting again.. .. Even though I'll be busy with a projext for the head captain, I'll make sure my "staff" are available as much as you need"

"Right" Ichigo said simply with a nod. "I take it you still want this kept from her ?"

"Yes.. It's imperative that she not learn about everything for as long as possible" Kenryu replied, nodding back.

"Alright.. We'll do our best in that regard" Ichigo said, standing up. "Hiyori, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, Tatsuki… I can on you right?"

They all agreed in their own way, ranging from Chad's thunmbs up to Tatsuki's "Fuck yeah!"

"What about you though, Rukia?.." Ichio asked, looking over at the raven haired girl. "If you don't wanna help out of fear of getting in trouble then I won't force you to-"

"Idiot!" Rukai exclaimed ,slapping Ichigo in his head. "Of course I'm going to help you.. We're friends aren't we?…besides, like when you saved me from execution….sometimes breaking the rules is necessary for the greater good"

Ichigo held out his fist to her and Rukia bumped her fist against his with a slight grin, before turning serious.

"Ok then…" Ichigo said, looking around. "It's pretty late though, so we'll start tomorrow.. That good with everyone?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and stood up, getting ready to leave.

"I already sent Tessai over to your house to repair the roof.. It won't take him long to finish" Urahara said with small yawn. "Your welcome to wait here where it's safe till he finishes…"

"That won't be necessary Kisuke" Ichigo said, looking at the man. "Rurichiyo, and the other two can stay at my house next door till Tessai finishes.. It will take sometime before that Kumoi guy finds out his assassin failed so it should be safe. And there are 3 powerful Soul Reapers at my house to protect her.. 4 if you count my dad "

"Very well.." Kenryu agreed, looking a bit reluctant. "Enryu.. Can you fetch Lady Rurichiyo?"

The tall silent man nodded and a few minutes later, came back into the room carrying a sleeping Rurichiyo in his arms. With that, everyone went their separate ways to get home, with Ichigo, Hiyori, Rukia, Kenryu, Enryu and the sleeping Rurichiyo all heading to Ichigo's house. It wasn't long before Tessai came over announcing that the roof was fixed, and Kenryu, Enryu and Rurichiyo left Ichigo's place to go next door for the night.

As Ichigo and crew slept in the world of the living, a bearded man with slicked back white hair and a red monocle in his left eye, was sitting in a poorly lit chamber in the Soul Society as another man dressed in the same garb as the would be assassin of Rurichiyo knelt before the bearded man.

"Give your report" The bearded man said, as the dim light made his red monocle glow slightly.

"Yes sir" The assassin said, still kneeling. "It's not good news I'm afraid.. Not only were the girl's caretakers present, but so were three powerful Soul Reapers, who killed your man sir… and that's not the worst part"

"Not the worst part you say?" The bearded man asked, glaring hard. " What could be worse then your failure?"

"One of the Soul Reapers present had captain level Spiritual energy sir… and.. well" The mans said. while stuttering. "The apparent leader of the three.. His spiritual energy was above a Captain's level…and he himself wore a Captain's Haori sir.."

"What!?" The bearded man demanded , slamming his fist onto the arm of his seat. "That girl has Soul Reaper Captain as a body guard!.. And two other powerful Soul Reapers watching over her now as well!?"

The man visibly shuttered again as he spoke "I'm sorry sir, I did-"

What ever he was going to say, was cut off , when the bearded man nodded his head and a man In the same assassin garb appeared behind the kneeling man and with one swipe, removed his head from his neck with a sword.

"Remove that _trash_ from here" The bearded man said, dryly. "Sigh…it appears things are getting more complicated here.. But no matter.. The girl will die. One way or another"

Several days had passed since then, and Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia had started walking Rurichiyo home after school every day and spending a lot of time near her to protect her. At the moment they were walking home and Rurichiyo spotted a vending machine.

"Ooh.. Ichigo, Ichigo!.. What is this thing?" Rurichiyo asked happily running up to it.

"That's what we call a vending machine, Rurichiyo" Ichigo replied, with a smile, walking over next to her.

"A vending machine?" Rurichiyo asked, titling her head slightly. "What's it do?"

"If you put money into it, you van get drink from it" Ichigo explained calmly, as Rurichiyo's face lit up. "You wanna try it?"

"Ooh can I?" Rurichiyo asked excitedly, jumping like a, well, like a school girl.

"Sure.. here" Ichigo said fishing out some coins from his pocket and handing them to her. "Decide what you want, put the one into that slot and hit the button under the drink you want"

"Ok.. how about some cold green tea?" she asked, looking up at him.

Ichigo pointed to which one was green tea, and Rurichiyo proceeded to do as instructed, rewarded with a can of green tea like she wanted.

"You should refrain from referring to Lady Rurichiyo in such a casual manner, boy" Kenryu stated, while glaring at Ichigo.

"It's fine Kenryu" Rurichiyo said as she drank her green tea. "He didn't offend me"

With that the group walked along again, until Rukia spotted a nearby arcade and got an idea.

"Hey, Lady Rurichiyo?" Rukia said, getting her attention. "Have you ever been to an arcade?"

With a reply of "what's an arcade?" Rukia drags her, Ichigo, Hiyori, Kenryu and Enryu off to the arcade to have some fun. Rukia, Rurichiyo and even Hiyori started playing the various games at the arcade and spent quite a bit of time doing so. Eventually Rurichiyo got them to cram into a photo both to take some photos and Kenryu became pissed at Ichigo after several pictures, when Rurichiyo pushed out everyone but her and Ichigo and jumped onto his lap for one last photo.

Ichigo might have been a little dense about girls still, but even he could tell that Rurichiyo had crush on him, but he had come to think of the girl as a third sister, so he just ignored it and chalked it up to him probably being the first guy she had ever encountered outside her clad compound.

After giving Rurichiyo piggy back ride home, to which of course Kenryu yelled at Ichigo for until Rurichiyo told Kenryu to stop, they stopped at Ichigo's house for the time being and were greeted by Ichigo's sister Yuzu..

"Hello, I'm one of Ichigo's sisters, Yuzu" Yuzu said , giving a little curtsy( where a girl with crouch and bow slightly while holding out their dress/skirt a little). "It's nice to meet you"

Rurichiyo did the exact same thing to Yuzu as she introduced herself and Yuzu suggested that Rurichiyo and her friends should stay for dinner. While waiting for Yuzu to make dinner, Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia did homework, while Rurichiyo was kept amazed by TV and it's various programs and Kenryu and Enryu sat nearby not doing much of anything.

Realizing that there was quite a while still till dinner , Ichigo said he was going to take a quick shower, while Hiyori almost immediately said she was going to go lay down till dinner. As soon as Ichigo grabbed a towel, a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom though, he heard small foot steps behind him found Hiyori standing there with flirty grin on her face.

With almost no words spoken they both quickly took off their clothes, turned on the water and hopped into the shower together. Some 45 minutes later, of fun ended with Hiyori pushed face up against the inside of the shower door, Ichigo behind her, as she moaned out to him and him giving a loud serious of grunts as he finished for the second time and Hiyori virtually collapsed with her shaky legs. After drying off and getting dressed Ichigo helped Hiyori to their room where she collapsed onto the bed, complaining that her hips were sore and her legs felt like jelly.

"I didn't hear you complaining earlier" Ichigo said with a grin as Hiyori managed to find the strength to hurl a flip flop at him. "We still have some time before dinner, so you rest up and I'll come and get you when it's ready"

"Love you brat" Ichigo said, leaning down and kissing her to which Hiyori eagerly welcomed despite to her situation.

"Love you too, idiot" Hiyori said stretching as she laid on the bed.

With that, Ichigo walked out his room, closing the door and headed downstairs to the others.

"You sure took a long time to shower Ichigo" Rukia commented, as she read through a manga.

"Yeah.. Well , so what.. You take a long time in the shower too you know" Ichigo retorted with slight blush. "I recall you being in there for almost an a hour the other day"

"Ye-yes.. But.. But I'm a women and we take longer then men do" Rukia nearly yelled with a slight red face. "It takes a while to properly wash this much hair you know"

"Hiyori has longer hair then you and doesn't take that much time" Ichigo countered with a smug smile.

"Um.. Shut up, strawberry!" Rukia huffed.

"Where is Hiyori at anyways, Ichigo?" Rurichiyo asked, looking over from the couch.

"She's still laying down.. And enjoying our vacation like we originally intended when we first came back to the world of the living" Ichigo answered, putting his hands onto his pockets. "Every time we come to the world of the living for some down time something pulls us away from it.. And this time it was the Arrancars"

"I still don't understand how or why the Soul Society let one of it's Captain and Lieutenants take a vacation in the world of the living" Kenryu commented, folding his arms.

"That's because Ichigo here is technically a human with Soul Reaper powers" Rukia replied, now over her embarrassment. "He was granted the title of Captain of squad 5 by the head captain"

"A normal human with Soul Reaper powers?" Kenryu restated with widened eyes. "Who was made a captain in the 13 court guard squads no less?"

"Please tell us how this all happened Ichigo" Rurichiyo said, now ignoring the TV.

"This I gotta hear" Karin said walking over from the table where she had been sitting.

Ichigo shrugged since there was nothing else to do and proceeded to tell them how he became a Soul Reaper captain.

"… and then he made me a captain for some reason.." Ichigo said, finishing up the tale that he slightly edited for Rurichiyo's sake.

Just after finishing, Yuzu announced that dinner was ready so Ichigo went and got Hiyori before they ate together. Apparently, Isshin was busy at some conference out of town and wouldn't be back for a few days, so he was absent from the table this time.

"This is most delicious, Yuzu" Rurichiyo commented as she ate happily. "You called it curry and rice?. I'd love to eat this every night"

"Eat your carrots too, Rurichiyo" Ichigo said, as he too ate, sitting next to her with Hiyori on the other side of him. "Don't eat around them"

"But I don't like carrots" Rurichiyo said stubbornly.

"You keep referring to her far too casually. And now your telling her what to do.." Kenryu complained.

Ignoring Kenryu as usual, Ichigo took a page from his book of being a big brother and also played on the crush he knew she had on him.

"You wanna be a strong leader when you take over your clan someday right?" Ichigo asked, in a clam brother type voice. "Eating your vegetables will help you be strong and smart enough to lead.. Just like getting plenty of rest helps you grow…"

"But.."

Before Rurichiyo could protest anymore, Ichigo scooped up some of the curry with carrots in it and put the spoon into her mouth. She was of course shocked and blushing at this but chewed as he instructed while Kenryu and Enryu made faces of horror at Ichigo doing such a thing… even though Rurichiyo didn't seem to mind as much as her caretakers did.

"You're a respectable young lady who I know I can trust to the rest, right?" Ichigo said, handing Rurichiyo back her spoon who nodded at him with red cheeks.

"Smooth, Romeo.." Hiyori said, loud enough for only Ichigo to hear him.

Ichigo gave a simple reply back. "Thanks"

After everyone finished dinner, Ichigo, Hiyori and Rukia walked Rurichiyo back over to her house with Kenryu and Enryu when suddenly Ichigo came to a stop.

"What's wrong Ichigo?" Rurichiyo asked looking up at him. "Why did you stop?"

"Stay behind me Rurichiyo.. There's someone here.." Ichigo said, as he fished out his soul candy dispenser and separated from his body. "Take her back to my house where it's safe"

"Yes sir" the fake soul now in Ichigo's body said.

"I'll go with her, keep her safe" Rukia said, appearing in Soul reaper form as well. "We'll leave whoever it is to you and Hiyori… good luck and be careful"

Ichigo and Hiyori both nodded and said "Right"

Sure enough, a man dressed exactly like the first assassin appeared holding a katana in his hands. There was one difference between him and the first man though….the man held a second weapon on his back wrapped in bandages. The assassin dashed at them with his sword held tightly as Ichigo and Hiyori draw their Zanpakutos and readied themselves.

Hiyori was the first to engage the assassin, blocking his sword with her own with ease. She pushed back against the weapon before spinning around and kicking him in his stomach, which knocked him back, and had him sliding on his feet a little ways. Before he could counter, Ichigo came up beside him, swinging his Zanpakuto downward, which the man barely dodged.

He jumped back, and dropped his normal sword, pulling the bandaged weapon off of his back, which he revealed as strange looking sword that he swung, sending a wave of green energy at them. The energy somehow turned into a slab of wall that pushed at them, and forced them to flash-step to safety. Wasting no time, the assassin send several more waves of energy that became slabs of wall, flying at Ichigo and Hiyori. This time, instead of dashing away, Ichigo simply took a rigid stance and slashed at the wall diagonally both ways which destroyed the wall before it ever made contact.

"Who the hell are?!" Ichigo demanded, glaring at the man. "Your with the man from last time, right?. Why are you after Rurichiyo?"

Not even bothering to answer, the assassin sent wave after wave of energy attacks from the strange sword he wielded. Annoyed, Hiyori jumps in front of Ichigo and releases her Zanpakuto. "Butcher him, Kubiriki Orochi!"

Using her large, cleaver-like sword, she swiped her sword horizontally and sent nearly invisible wave of energy at the walls flying at them, which, tore through them and headed for the assassin himself.

Cursing to himself, the assassin was forced to run off to the side, but because he couldn't actually see Hiyori's attack, his left arm was severed, flying off in a spray of blood. The man, of course, reacted by yelling out in pain as he held his bleeding stump.

"Jeeze Hiyori…Was that necessary?" Ichigo commented, looking at his short girlfriend in front of him.

"You killed the last assassin, remember?" Hiyori stated, shrugging. "All I did as cut off his arm… and considering he would have done the same or worse to us, I don't see the problem here… it's kill or be killed in our line of work, Ichigo"

"I didn't kill that last guy on intentionally.. I don't like killing on purpose.. I'm not that kind of person" Ichigo replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "Besides.. If we can capture this guy, maybe we can find out some stuff out their leader, this Kumoi guy, that Kenryu mentioned"

"Does that even matter? We already know who's sending the assassin's and why.. What's there to learn?" Hiyori asked, sending several more invisible wind attacks at the assassin who actually dodged them this time, despite the injury. "Does this guy seem like he'll be talkative even if we do capture him?"

Ichigo didn't reply this time at first, as he saw the assassin's weapon glowing green and somehow attach itself to his arm.

"What the hell?" Ichigo commented, staring at the man. "Did that sword thing just attach to his arm?.. Just what the hell is that thing?"

"No idea.. Let's just concentrate on stopping this guy" Hiyori replied, tightening her grip on her sword. "Something tells me that whatever's going on, it's nothing good for us though"

Ichigo nodded in agreement ."Yeah.. Got that right"

The assassin swung his sword that was now fused to his arm in a upward arc at Ichigo and Hiyori, causing several, thin, but strong slabs of rock to form out of the ground that traveling in a path towards them as they rose out of the nothing.

Ichigo and Hiyori launched attacks simultaneously, sending a Getsuga Tenshou and a Haipa-Kaze Tenkuu which hit the walls of stone together, causing a small explosion which rang down bits of rock all around the area. The assassin himself remained unharmed though, and tried attacking again.

"This bastard is pissing me off!" Ichigo growled, dodging more of the stone attacks. "Guess I need to stop this up before he does any more damage to the area"

"I got this Ichigo… no need to show the enemy all of your power unless you have to" Hiyori said, holding her sword in front of her and gathering her spiritual energy. "Bankai!"

Now wielding her dual Kusarigama that were attached to her red and black hand guards, Hiyori dashed at the assassin at speeds faster then anyone could possibly follow, and swung her weapons like helicopter blades as she ran.

The assassin swung his sword, creating dozens of layers of stone walls between him and Hiyori, but she cut through them like butter and continued her advance. Realizing that his attacks wouldn't stop Hiyori, he jumped down to the near by street as Hiyori gave chase. Ichigo, who had been letting Hiyori handle the situation, saw that several high school girls from his class were walking down the street near their battle holding bags from a convenience store and talking.

He didn't know if Hiyori would see them in time to lead the battle away from the humans, so Ichigo flash-stepped over to a roof top near them, and readied himself to keep them from danger if necessary.

"Hiyori!.. Keep the battle away from here.. There are people here!" Ichigo yelled to her.

"Kind of busy here.. You wanna help them, then you move them out of the way!" Hiyori yelled back as she raced down at the assassin that was still running while throwing waves of green energy at her. "I'll take you down you assassin asshole!"

She gathered her spiritual energy and unleashed a huge visible wave of energy that tore up the street as it shot at the man at high speeds. The man tried putting up more stone walls, but it was pointless as the attack sent by Hiyori destroyed the wall and hit him full force.

Ichigo saw that the wave was too close to the girls on the street so flash-stepped down as fast as he could, and grabbed the girls who were screaming about the explosions of Hiyori's attacks. Struggling in the grip at what they believed a ghost that had grabbed them, Ichigo deposited them a few blocks away where they'd be safe before heading back to Hiyori.

He found Hiyori ,who had already undid her Bankai and released her Zanpakuto back into it's sheathe.

"What the hell Hiyori!?" Ichigo demanded a he grabbed her by her shirt. "You almost killed those people!"

"I knew you'd get to them before anything happened to them.." Hiyori replied, rather calmly, as she pushed his hand away. "Maybe it was reckless, but the assassin looked like he was going to go in the direction of your house, where Rurichiyo, your sisters and everyone else was.."

"That's not the point!.. You could have stopped him in a less dangerous way!" Ichigo yelled, putting his sword back onto his back. "This isn't the same as in the Soul Society...we have to be more careful here"

Before Hiyori could retort, Urahara appeared in a flash-step next to them.

"Ichigo, Hiyori.." Urahara said calmly. "I felt the high spiritual energy here and came over to see what was going on.. I take it another assassin came after Rurichiyo?"

"Yeah" Ichigo answered after a minute. "This was one had strange, and powerful weapon though.. He was far stronger then the first guy"

"I see.." Urahara replied, looking troubled. "Maybe I should put up a barrier around Rurichiyo's house to provide protection for her… but for right now, you should probably go check on her and the others.."

Ichigo nodded and ran to his house, leaving Urahara and Hiyori there alone.

"Hiyori… perhaps you should go cool down for right now" Urahara said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Get you damn hand off of me" Hiyori said, pushing his hand off harshly. "Stay out of myself and Ichigo's problems.. It's none of your fucking business"

"Maybe not.. But even so.. He was right about your attack being reckless" Urahara stated rather seriously. "You could have killed those girls if Ichigo hadn't gotten them to safety.. I thought you knew better then that"

"Don't you start lecturing me too… I knew he would save them and the assassin needed to be stopped" Hiyori replied, narrowing her eyes and barring her teeth at Urahara. "They were just a bunch of useless humans.. But we we're protecting that princess girl who's probably worth more then them.. The choice to stop him from getting to her was the right choice"

"Have you forgotten that one of the main jobs of a Soul Reaper is to protect human souls?.." Urahara asked, standing back. "You almost got them killed.. And as a member of the 13 court guard squads you would have had to answer if they had died"

"I'm a Vizard first.. Soul Reaper second" Hiyori argued back. " I've killed people before that have gotten in my way…"

"I know this.. I'm the one who had to cover that incident up that you cause almost 100 years back when your Hollow took over and broke out of the warehouse" Urahara said as his hat cast a dark shadow over his eyes. "This time is different.. Your once again a lieutenant of the Soul Society and would be held responsible if you purposely had killed those humans.."

"We're done here" Hiyori said, turning away from him. "I'm going to your training room to blow off steam.."

Meanwhile, Ichigo checked on Rurichiyo, Rukia, his sisters and Rurichiyo's bodyguards back at his house.

"I take it you defeated the man?" Kenryu asked, sitting on the couch with Rurichiyo.

"I'm so glad your ok, Ichigo" Rurichiyo yelled, running over to him and hugging his waist. "Where's Hiyori at?"

Ichigo patting the girl on her head, but didn't look down at her or answer her.

"Ichigo?.. Is everything ok?" Rukia asked, walking over to him. "Did something happen?.. Is Hiyori ok?"

"She's fine…though honestly at the moment, I could care less" Ichigo said with a steeled tone in his voice as he Rurichiyo let go of him and he got back into his body. "I'm going to go to a walk and then get some early sleep.. Good night everyone"

With that, Ichigo walked out of the room, out the front door and out of sight.

"Ichigo?" Rurichiyo said, with a concerned expression. "Is.. Is he alright?"

"I'm…I'm not sure" Rukia answered with a concern look as well. "Ichigo doesn't easily open up if something's wrong though.. So he might not tell us"

"It obviously has something to do with Hiyori" Karin said, walking over to the others. "Maybe they had a fight or something"

"A fight?.. Do you think it was serious?" Yuzu asked worriedly, while putting her hands together. "Maybe someone should go and -"

"No Yuzu.. You know he won't tell us, no matter what it is" Karin said cutting her off. "Worrying about something we can't do anything about is pointless"

Yuzu looked uncertain at Karin. "But…"

"Give it a rest, Yuzu.." Karin said, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder. "You know how he is…"

Yuzu looked like she wanted to try always, but instead sunk her shoulders and reluctantly sat back down.

"So.. What happens now?" Karin asked, looking over at Rukia.

"Now?.. We should get Rurichiyo home for the time being" Rukia said while sighing. "We'll deal with damage control tomorrow after everyone gets some sleep"

"That might be for the best" Kenryu said, standing up along with Enryu. "We should we going, lady Rurichiyo"

"But.. What about Ichigo?.." Rurichiyo asked, looking over at Kenryu. "…and that man .. Was he really after me?…why was he after me?"

"I'm sure Ichigo will be fine in the morning, milady" Kenryu insisted. "As for that man.. I have not idea.. But what ever the reason, we'll protect you with our lives, so do not worry"

"I…fine…" Rurichiyo said, feeling defeated. "Let's go home… I am tired I guess"

With that, Rukia escorted Rurichiyo, Kenryu, and Enryu back over to their house, leaving Yuzu and Karin there.

"Karin?…" Yuzu said, getting her sister's attention. "Do you.. Do you think that things will always be this complicated?"

"..if anything.. I think things will get more complicated from here on out" Karin replied, sighing. "It's unfortunate.. But that's the ways our life is now"

"I hope Ichigo will be ok through all this" Yuzu said, looking out the window. "He deserves some peace on his life"

"Yeah, he does.." Karin agreed, joining her twin. "He definitely does Yuzu…"

Meanwhile, a few blocks Ichigo was walking with his hands in his pockets as he looked up in the sky at the stars.

"What a mess" Ichigo commented out loud.

"You look like crap kid" said female voice from his left. "Have a rough day or something ?"

"Who's asking?" Ichigo demanded though in a voice that showed he didn't care too much.

"Just little old me" Said a tall, well endowed women with a cap and goggles, who was stitting on a bench. "So what are you doing out so late kid?"

"I'm not a kid.. I'm 15, going on 16 for crying out loud…" Ichigo answered, coming to stop. "..and my name isn't kid.. It's Ichigo.. So who are you suppose to be lady?"

"Actually I already know your name Ichigo Kurosaki.. But since were exchanging names, mine's Ikumi Unagiya.. Nice to meet you in person" The women said a with a grin. "Before you get mad or anything though, don't worry.. A mutual friend of ours told me about you the other day"

"Mutual friend? Who exactly?" Ichigo asked, his attention fully on Ikumi. "Who could you know that I know?"

"You could say a certain black cat.. but Yoruichi Shihoin is more of an exact answer though" Ikumi replied, calmly. " She seems to think highly of you.. You know that?"

"Yoruichi?.. You know her?" Ichigo asked, somewhat wideeyed. "What did you track me down for then?… she knows me fairly well enough to answer most questions"

"Maybe.. In any case…can you come with me?.. I need some work done and Yoruichi recommended you" Ikumi said standing up and wiping dirt off of the back of her pants. "Well?"

"Sorry.. Right now I'm busy helping someone deal with something rather dangerous and can't be sidetracked" Ichigo siad folding his arms. "Maybe after I deal with this, but right now I-"

"Th jobs can wait.. But talking to you can't" Ikumi said, adjusting her hat. "Come on.. I'll make you some tea and we'll chat"

"Like I said it will have to wait til-"

"Is that anyway to talk to an adult?.. Or better yet, Ikumi Unagiya.. Formerly know as Ikumi Shiba.." She said as Ichigo stared at her in disbelief. "So…are you going to come home with your cousin by marriage.. Or do I have to drag your spikey haired ass to my place?.. Better choose fast Ichigo"

"Um.. Ok?" Ichigo managed to say as Ikumi took a hold of him and dragged him to her van, and shoved him into the passenger's seat.

"Alright little cuz… let's go chat!" Ikumi said grinning as she started the van up and they drove away. "We have a lot to chat about little cousin of mine"

With that they drove off with Ichigos head spinning.. Both metaphorically.. And figuratively, because Ikumi drove like a mad women.

End of chapter 52

To be continued….

Please read, enjoy and review. Ask any questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 53

It was short while later and Ikumi had driven Ichigo to a house with a large sign outside that said "Unagiya shop" on it.

"Unagiya?.. Do you sell eel?" Ichigo commented, which resulted in her smacking him in the back of his head. "What the hell!?"

"I don't sell eel moron.. Unagiya is my last name, remember dipshit?" Ikumi said as she opened the door and let them inside.

"Maybe you should change it then.. Considering Unagi means eel and Unagiya is close to that name.." Ichigo said ,before getting hit again. "Enough with the hitting already"

"Keep your voice down.. My son's sleeping" Ikumi said, ignoring him an sitting at the dinning room table. "Go ahead and sit so we can talk"

"Fine… though you look a little too young to be mom" Ichigo stated as he sat down at the table she was sitting at. "So what is it you wanted to talk about so bad?"

"Too young to be a mom huh?.. Flirting with me won't get you anywhere" Ikumi said with a grin. "Don't get me wrong your pretty handsome for your age, but considering you're my cousin and I'm not into incest your out of luck here"

"I.. I wasn't flirting you psycho!" Ichigo exclaimed red faced. "Just tell me what you wanna talk about!"

"…I wanna talk about the truth" Ikumi said plainly.

"The truth?…" Ichigo asked looking confused. "Truth about what?"

"Tell me Ichigo.. What did your father, Isshin, tell you about your connection to the Shiba clan?" Ikumi asked, folding her arms and sitting back.

"Um. Well.. He said that Kukaku is his sister in law and that he married her sister, my mom Masaki" Ichigo answered raising an eyebrow as Ikumi stared at him before shaking her head.

"Honestly… What the hell was uncle Isshin thinking?" Ikumi said out loud, taking off her hat and running her hand across her hair. "I'm afraid your father was lying to you Ichigo…"

"Lying?.. About what?" Ichigo asked with an expression that was a mixture in disbelief and confusion.

"Your father didn't marry into the Shiba clan.. He was from the Shiba clan.. He was the head of the clan until he disappeared in the world of the living 20 years ago…" Ikumi said, as Ichigo eyes widened and he at there speechless. "He must have met your mom here too, because he was single until he disappeared.. It was as just him, his niece Kukaku, and his nephews, Kaien and Ganju.. He didn't even have a girlfriend, despite his constant flirting with pretty much every girl he saw"

"But… why would he lie.. And tell me all that?" Ichigo asked staring at the table.

"To be honest, I'm not sure.. I didn't even know he was alive until Yoruichi contacted me.. Nor did I know that I have you and your sisters for cousins" Ikumi said standing up and stretching.

"Then.. What about me mom.. Was she a normal human?" Ichigo asked, looking ay Ikumi.

"Sorry kid.. I never met your mom.. And like I said I didn't even know he was alive nor that he had kids till recently" She replied, looking grim. "You'll have to talk to your dad about in regards to your mom.."

"Yeah… I guess" Ichigo sighed as he stood up and walk towards the door. "I should probably be going though.. Nice to meet you and all Ikumi.. Meeting family I never knew I had is pretty cool at least"

"You realize he's never going to admit the truth about his heritage right?" Ikumi said, stopping him at the door. "I better be there when you talk to him.. He was pretty lazy when I knew him before he left the Soul Society"

"Wait a sec… I never asked.. Why are you here in the world of the living?" Ichigo asked, looking back at her. "If your from the Soul Society.. Then are a Soul Reaper or just a regular member of the Shiba clan.. And would they just let you run around here in the world of the living so freely?"

"I was considering joining the 13 court squads and become a Soul Reaper.. But right now I'm just an ordinary high powered clan member" Ikumi answered shrugging her shoulders.

"What about your son?" Ichigo asked looking back at her. "Is he part human like me?"

"My son?.. No.. I bought him here with me when he was a baby. As far as he knows he's an ordinary human" Ikumi replied putting her hat back on. "I just get him a new gigai every year.. I put him to sleep with Kido so that he can be transferred to his new Gigai in his sleep"

"You gotta be kidding me.." Ichigo said while face palming.

"Nope.. I know he'll find out someday.. But for right now, it's way too much of a hassle" Ikumi stated making a face. "You got a problem with that assbutt?"

Ichigo glared slightly and said "You remind me way too much of Kukaku"

"I get that a lot.. But in any case. It's late so you should get going" She said, walking over to a hallway closet. "It's starting to rain, so take this umbrella with you to keep you dry.. And here's my phone number.. I'll call you and let you know when I'm free to help you when you talk to your dad"

"Uh.. Thanks… for both things, Ikumi" Ichigo said as she handed him a umbrella and a piece of paper with her number on it.. "I'll see you later then"

"Sure.. And call me aunt Ikumi.." She said folding her arms under large bust. "I'm older then you and it sounds weird if you called me your cousin or something else"

Ichigo stepped out the door and opened the umbrella outside as he replied to her. "Uh.. Sure.. Aunt Ikumi"

With that, Ichigo began walking along home in the rain with the umbrella that had an image of a fist on it along with the name Unagiya.

He made his way home and quickly waked up stairs to get some sleep. Ichigo laid down on his bed after changing out of his clothes and flopped on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He managed to fall asleep after a little while, though it was restless sleep and he was still tired the next morning when his dad ran in trying to drop kick him. Ichigo was too tired and not in the mood for his dad's antics though, so he calmly stepped aside while Isshin face planted into the wall behind him.

He calmly grabbed his clothes and got dressed in the bathroom, before heading down stairs where Rukia and Karin were getting breakfast served to them by Yuzu.

"Good morning Ichigo" Yuzu said in her usual chipper tone. "You don't look good.. Are you feeling ok?"

She walked over to him and out her hand on his forehead after he sat down, with a concerned look. "Your a little warm, Ichigo"

"I'm fine sis.. Really.. I just didn't get much sleep last night" Ichigo said, as he grabbed some breakfast on the plates in front of him and put stuff on his own plate. "I'll just take an aspirin and if I'm not feeling well later, I'll just sleep in the nurse's office during my 2nd period free period"

"Oh.. Are you sure?…

"It's fine really" Ichigo said a bit more firmly as he started eating.

Ichigo finished quickly running up to the bathroom to get an aspirin, and then grabbing his school bag and shoes, before walking out the door, leaving Rukia behind.

Yuzu called after him, be he didn't answer or turn back, making her look depressed. "Ichigo…"

"Relax Yuzu.. You heard him.. He didn't get enough sleep.. And you know he gets cranky when that happens" Karin said, still eating. "Worrying about him too much won't do any good here.. And if he wants to talk about last night, then you have to wait till he wants to talk about it"

"He's being a real ass if you ask me" Rukia said, throwing in her two cents. "I can give him good smacking when I see him at school"

"No.. It's ok… I'm sure Karin's right" Yuzu said though she still looked depressed.

Rukia agreed and finished her breakfast before grabbing the lunches that Yuzu had made for her and Ichigo and left school as well.

As Ichigo and Rukia were dealing with school and other issues in the world of the living, There were other things going on at the Seireitei inside the Soul Society. A man named Makoto Kibune had been elected as the new third seat of squad 3 and was currently sitting on top of a wall as members of the squad were chasing a cat nearby. The cat darted up the wall and the squad members came to a stop when they saw him sitting there.

"Uh.. You're the new third seat of our squad right?" The Lieutenant of squad 3, Izuru Kira stated as he walked to the front of the group of Soul Reapers. "Makoto Kibune if I'm not mistaken?"

"That's correct.. Lieutenant Kira" Makoto replied, hopping down to him. "Nice to meet you"

"Wait.. We have a new 3rd seat?" one of the squad members asked while the others asked similar questions.

"I heard about this.. But honestly this is the first time I've met them myself" Izuru said, looking at his squad. " There's been so much going on lately that there's been a lot of confusion around here"

"We'll It's my fault for not introducing myself sooner as well.." Makoto said with a smile. "I take it you haven't heard the other change to squad 3"

"Like what?" Izuru asked, raising an eyebrow.

Makoto grinned and folded his arms. "Like the new captain.. Captain Amagai"

"New captain?"

"We have a new captain, Lieutenant Kira?"

"I… I didn't hear about this.." Izuru said with wide eyes. " The last new official captain we had was Ichigo… we also had former squad 3 captain Rose Otoribashi temporarily re-take command of our squad during the incident with the rouge Zanpakuto"

"That's understandable… perhaps I should take you to meet him" Makoto suggested. "Better to meet him sooner rather then later"

Izuru agreed and followed Makoto through the Seireitei to meet Captain Amagai, even though he wasn't sure about having a new captain. Makoto led him to the squad 3 barracks and specifically, the captain's quarters that his former captain Gin Ichimaru had used for so long.

Makoto knocked on the door and a voice inside called them in. He slid open the door and walked inside, where a tall muscular man with dark purple messy hair wearing a long sleeved captain's haori. The man stood upon walked over to greet them with friendly smile.

"Captain Amagai.. This is the squad 3 lieutenant Izuru Kira" Makoto said, looking at the captain.

"Oh.. Yes of course.. it's good to meet you finally.. I've been trying to make time to meet you. But it's been hectic around here" Amagai said shaking Izuru's hand. "Sorry about taking so long"

"It's fine Captain Amagai sir.. I'm sure I got a memo sent to my office about this, but as you said it's been hectic and I Haven't had much time to go to my office lately" Izuru said in a friendly manner. "It's good to meet to though sir.. You're the second new captain we've have recently"

"Wait.. There's another new captain besides me?" Amagai asked, looking at Makoto. "Who is it?"

Makoto made a gesture of not knowing about it ,so Amagai turned back to Izuru.

"Well.. I'd love to me this other new captain as well" Amagai said, with a friendly tone. "What's their name?"

Izuru got a strange vibe, but ignored it and answered him "Oh.. His name is Ichigo .. Ichigo Kurosaki"

"Ichigo huh… Ichigo"

"Ichigo"

"ICHIGIO! WAKE UP!"

Ichigo opened his eyes and looked over to see Tatsuki standing there with Orihime, both holding bentos.

"Sheeze Ichigo.. You slept through nearly all of the first half of school" Tatsuki said looking at him. "Didn't get any sleep last night?"

"…no, I didn't" Ichigo said standing up and stretching his arms.

"Why not Ichigo.. Are you feeling ok?" Orihime asked looking concerned. "Maybe you should go and lay down at the nurse's office"

"Yeah Ichigo" Rurichiyo said,, hugging waist from behind him. "Maybe you should sleep. I can keep you company"

"I'm fine" Ichigo said, patting Rurichiyo n her head. before grabbing his bento and walking past everyone.

"Ichigo where are you going?" Rukia asked, calling out to him.

Ichigo ignored her and walked out the classroom, leaving his friends there confused.

Ichigo walked outside and sat down on the grass next to a tree, putting his lunch beside him. He sat there for a few minutes before a long shadow cover him and he looked up to see Michiru standing there holding a bento.

"Ichigo?.. W-what are you doing out here by yourself?" Michiru asked, while blushing slightly.

"What?.. Oh.. Your Michiru Ogawa" Ichigo said, blinking a bit rapidly. "I just got a lot on my shoulders right now"

"Oh I see… would it be alright if… maybe I could that is…" Michiru said stuttering slightly. "M-may I join you for lunch?"

"Uh… I guess.." Ichigo said, unsure what to say about her outburst.

They mostly ate in silence, though Michiru would regularly look at Ichigo and blush before going back to her food.

Some distance away Ryo was watching this staring while holding book in her hand. "Why does she keep blushing at him instead of trying to just talk to him?"

Ryo shook her head and walked away leaving her friend to hopelessly try and fail at flirting with Ichigo.

After finishing his lunch, Ichigo got up and bid farewell to the still blushing Michiru, ad decided to go for a walk since he still had about ten minutes let for lunch break.

As he walked along, his Soul Pager suddenly rang, so he pulled it out and saw text message on it from his squad's third seat.

"Huh?.. A general captain's meeting has been called?" Ichigo said out loud, looking at it. "Super.. Just what I want right now.. More stuff on my shoulders"

"Sorry, Akira.. I have a lot of stuff that's more important to deal with right now" He typed back and sent, before shutting off his phone. " Maybe I'll take the rest of the day off.. Go some where maybe"

With that Ichigo walked off away from school, with his hands in his pockets with no specific destination.

He walked along for a while and then heard someone familiar call his name.

"Hmm?… Aunt Ikumi"

"Ichigo.. What are you doing out of school this time of day?" Ikumi asked, while standing there, holding a plastic bag in one hand. "Well? you just gong to stand there in a daze or answer me?"

"Uh.. I uh" Ichigo trailed off, unsure how to answer.

"Never mind.. I take off time from things to sometimes.." Ikumi said shrugging. "But if your not going to go to school, then make yourself useful and help me out with my shopping"

Ichigo stared at her for a minute before saying anything "Um.. I guess I could.."

"Good then come on" Ikumi said grabbing his wrist and pulling him along. "I got a lot of things to do today while I'm out after all.. You can be my pack mule"

"Pack Mule?!"

Not answering him she dragged him off down the street and although he struggled for a while, he eventually just gave up.

It was hours later and Ikumi had quite a few bags, all of which Ichigo had ended up carrying for her.(not by choice mind you). At the present, Ichigo was sitting at a table in a restaurant with Ikumi across from him.

"Um.. Why are we here?" Ichigo asked calmly.

"What do you mean why are we here?" Ikumi replied somewhat annoyed. " it' almost dinner time.. We've out all afternoon after all… so we're having dinner"

"Dinner?"

"Yeah moron.. You know, a meal you eat at night?" Ikumi said as Ichigo glared at her. "In any case, dinner's on me.. it will be my treat as thanks for putting up with me and carrying all my shit"

"Whatever…" Ichigo said looking out of it.

"By the way.. You look out of it.. And I'm just saying that cause I read the last sentence of this story" Ikumi said, as Ichigo's eye twitched. "So.. What's on your mind?"

"How do you know anything's on my mind?"

"Apart from your expression all afternoon… your just like his father.. Your true emotions are often hidden beneath the surface, but your surprisingly easy to read nonetheless" Ikumi stated, looking at him neutrally.

Ichigo glared at her. "I'm not like my father.. That idiot"

"Yeah you are… you're a spiting image of him personailay wise"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"I am not"

"Yeah you are"

I am not!"

"The more you deny it, the more you act like Isshin" Ikumi finally said with a grin.

"Screw you…"

"That retort of yours was lacing in intensity" Ikumi said, ignoring "Just order something for dinner and then we'll go back to my place and chat.. No arguments.."

Ichigo reluctantly ate dinner with Ikumi and carried her bags to her house with her. Once inside Ichigo, dropped to the couch in the living room and sat there, a bit tired out from the hectic day. A few minutes After, Ikumi sat down next to him, putting her feet up on the table in front of it.

"A hell of a day, huh Ichigo?" Ikumi said slapping his leg lightly. "So.. Now that we're here, you wanna tell me what's got you panties in a bunch?.. Is it the whole thing about your dad lying to you about the Shiba clan?.. Or is it something else?"

"It that.. and I'm sort of a body guard to some girl from a noble clan and I'm the captain of squad 5.. And I'm having a fight with my girlfriend.. Who's also my lieutenant… Hiyori" Ichigo said, sighing. " I didn't get much sleep last night with al that shit on my mind"

"I see.. All that on your plate at only 15 years old.. That's a lot to deal with no matter what age you are.." Ikumi stated, leaning back. "Why not quit being a Captain, tell the girl that your guarding that you have to stop guarding her, find your girlfriend, and make up with her.. And then just worry about her and fighting hollows and crap for right now?.."

"I.. made promises.. And I can't go back on my word" Ichigo said, looking over at Ikumi. "I said I would rescue Rukia Kuchiki when she was sentenced to death by the Soul Society and I did… with the help of my friends… and any other thing I promise to do, I'll do it.. No matter what obstacles stand in my path"

"Heh.. You're a Shiba through and through kid" Ikumi said grinning. "That's the same atitude that a lot of us in the clan have"

"There's nothing wrong with helping others.. Just make sure you don't neglect your own life Ichigo" She then said while sighing. " You need to find a balance that let's you focus on helping others while still putting aside time for your own family and the normal issues that you have as a teenager"

"..yeah.."

"Hmm. It's starting to rain out.. Why don't you go take a hot bath and relax.. I'll wash your clothes for you" Ikumi said standing up. "Go on kid.. It's down the hall there, first door on the right"

"Uh.. Sure I guess that would be ok.. Wait.. Didn't you say you have a kid?" Ichigo asked looking over at her with one eyebrow raised.

"A kid?…MY SON OH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT HIM!" Ikumi yelled running around, as Ichigo stood there unsure what to say or do. "Oh wait.. He's at his friends house sleeping over tonight"

Ichigo face palmed at her actions and had no will to say anything to what she had just done.

"Well… why don't you go take a bath already?" Ikumi said, back to normal despite the outburst a moment ago. "..and be sure to leave your clothes outside the door after you get undressed.. And don't worry I won't come peak on you"

"I wasn't worried about that.. But I mm now that you mentioned it" Ichigo replied stand up as well. "You're your really weird, Aunt Ikumi"

With that , Ichigo shook his headand walked off to the bathroom, leaving Ikumi there who suddenly heard the phone ring.

"Hello? Unagiya shop.. Ikumi speaking" She said after she picked up the phone. "Oh.. Yoruichi.. What is it?"

"... oh Ichigo? Yeah I've seen him today… he's here at my place right now" She said nonchalantly. "He just got in the bath… no I'm not going to speak on him.. He looks that good naked?.. You don't say…. Well he's my cousin, so I'm not going peak"

"Huh.. Yeah it's only by marriage so if I did peak it's wouldn't mean to much but, I'm older then him.. What? His girlfriend is over a hundred years old?.. Guess age doesn't matter to him" Ikumi said to Yoruichi shrugging. "Still though.. he has a girl friend…and it would be awkward if I suddenly hit on him.. Enough trying to pollute my mind.. Why did you call?"

"What?.. His friends and sisters we're worried about him cause he disappeared from school today?.. That's not a big deal.. He's been with me all afternoon" Ikumi stated, walking around the room. "I'm trying to get him to open up about al the shit he's got on his mind and I figured him getting away from everyone for a day would do him some good.."

"Besides.. I needed _someone_ to carry my stuff and he happened to be there at the time" Ikumi admited casually, while Yoruichi laughed on the other end of the phone. "I figure I'll get him drunk and make him spill everything that's on his mind .. It will be good for him.. What? No it doesn't matter that he's too young to drink.. No, I'm not to try and fuck him when he's drunk.. That's something you would try, not me.. Yes he is handsome.. But we already had this talk a few minutes ago"

"Hey, Aunt Ikumi!" Ichigo yelled, opening the bathroom door slightly and putting his clothes out. "I'm putting my clothes out like you said to"

"Huh?.. Oh alright.. I'll be right there Ichigo" Ikumi yelled out loud. "I gotta go.. Just let his friends and family know that he's fine and with his aunt right now.. He' be back around tomorrow probably, k?"

"Alright.. See you tomorrow,. Night" Ikumi then hung up and went to gather Ichigo's clothes to throw in the washer like she said she would.

After his bath, and changing into his clothes that Ikumi washed and dried for him, Ichigo sat back on the couch where Ikumi joined him holding a bottle of saki and two saki bowls.

Ichigo looked over and had to comment. "Um… why is there two bowls there?"

Ikumi looked at him and grinned before pouring saki into the bowls. "It should be obvious.. You and I are going to get plastered.."

"Are you really an adult!?"

"Of course I am.. What kind of question is that, Ichigo?"

"Most adults wouldn't try and get their underaged nephew drunk on saki"

"When did I claim to be like most adults kid?"

"You really are just like Kukaku…scarily like her"

"I'll take that as a compliment"

"I wouldn't…"

"What was that?!"

"…nothing.."

Though very reluctantly, Ichigo ended up drinking saki with Ikumi and much like with Kukaku, he passed out rather easily, falling asleep on the couch.

The next morning, Ichigo woke up in ther couch, covered up with a blanket, he almost immediently felt a headache coming on. He looked over and saw Ikumi sitting up, in just her underwear, drinking a beer an relaxing.

He looked at her for moment, unsure if he was actually awake or not.

Without looking at him, Ikumi suddenly spoke out. "So are my panties cute enough for you?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Ichigo jumped up, covered his eyes and ran out of the room with a dark red face.

"PUT SOME DAME CLOTHES ON SO I CAN COME BACK INTO THE ROOM!"

"Yoruichu was spot on… even with a girlfriend, your still a prude around a scantly clad women"

Ichigo was standing out sight clutching his fists and growling. "Damn you Yoruichi!"

"Relax.. I was just joking Ichigo.. I'm getting dress right now" Ikumi called out to him from the living room.

"You better be!"

A few minutes later Ikumi announced it was safe for Ichigo to come back into the room and he did thogh he was still cautious.

"So Ichigo… have you figured out what your going to do?"

"About what?"

Ikumi sighed and sat back dow next to him. "About everything I mean.. your argument with your girlfriend… being a body guard.. Being a captain in ther 13 court guard squads and fighting against Aizen… all this on top of trying to be a "normal" 15 year old boy"

"Honestly… I'm not completely sure…"

"…well.. Your going to have to figure out what your going to do… even if it's difficult"

"Yeah I know…. Any ideas?"

"Hmm… if I were you.. I'd start with the girlfriend thing" Ikumi said, sighing. "Deal with one thing at a time.. But start with your girlfriend"

"Probably should… even though she's the one at fault"

"Maybe it's her fault.. But she's probably just use to living that way.. And it's not easy to suddenly change your habbits so easily" Ikumi said, stretching her arms over her head. "Just go talk to her and let her know that she was wrong but that you still love her and want to work with her to help her change while still being true to herself"

"That's surprisingly .. Well…thoughtful.." Ichigo commented, staring at Ikumi.

"So?.. I'm not completely foreign to emotions and relationships you know" Ikumi said makniga fist at him. "I did get knocked up years ago after all.. So I did have a boyfriend at one point"

"Um.. Ok.. I'm not doubting you.. It's just that talking like that didn't suit you is all" Ichigo said, holding his hands up in front of him in surrender.

"Well…. whatever…you still got school today, so you should probably get going" Ikumi stated standing up and walking to the kitchen. "I don't feel like making breakfast.. Best I can do is make you some toast"

Ichigo looked at her while glaring, "That's fine.. My head hurts anyways… think I have a hangover because of you"

"Don't blame me if you can't hold your alcohol" Ikumi retorted. "I'll get you some asprin to go with that toast.. And then give you a lift to your house"

"Alright…Thanks"

After eating, Ikumi droped him off at his house as promised and told him to not to be a stranger.. As well as that she'd call to let him know when she could help him out with his heritage thing when he talked to Isshin.

When he walked inside, it was still early so only Yuzu was up ands he quickly rushed over to him and jumped into his arms as soon as she saw him.

"Ichigo!.. I was so worried about you…"

Yuzu cried, ashe clung to him and Ichigo patted her head, trying to calm her down.

"You left school and never came home last night.." Yuzu said, still not letting go. "Even though Rukia got a call for a friend named Yoruichi saying you were just fine and would be back home today… I was still really worried about you.. And so was Karin"

"I'm sorry I worried you Yuzu.. That wasn't my intention.." Ichigo said, walking away from the door while carrying Yuzu who still holding onto him. "I just had some things to deal with… but I promise not to run off again without saying anything… ok?"

"You promise?" Yuzu asked looking up at him.

"Promise"

Finally certain that Ichigo was tellngi the truth, Yuzu let go and dropped to the floor so she could go start breakfast.

Karin and Rukia eventualy joined them and both smacked him in his head for making Yuzu worry like she had.

On the way to school with Rukia, Ichigo suddenly heard a voice call out his name from behind. Ichigo and Rukai turned around and found Hiyori of all people standing there.

"Hi.. Hiyori" Ichigo said with wide eyes. "I.. uh"

"Hey.. Ichigo… I..can we talk?" She asked blushing. "In private?"

Rukia patted him on his shoulder and told him good luck as she walked away, leaving Ichigo and Hiyori there alone.

"Ichigo I… I'm ..you know… sorry "

"Um.. Yeah me too.. For you know.. over reacting maybe?" Ichigo said back, both of the feeling awkward. "Guess neither one of us is good at .. You know.. This type of stuff"

"Yeah.. We're both alike in that way, aren't we?" Hiyori said small laugh.

"Too much alike in some ways" Ichigo said, sighing. "So.. Let's just agree that we botrh messed up and move on..sound good?"

Hiyori nodded. "Sounds good"

"So uh…"

"Yeah…"

Hiyori moved forward and hugged Ichigo tightly while Ichigo wrapped him arms around her as well.

"I missed you yesterday Ichigo"

"I missed you too.. Snaggletooth"

"Captain Kurosaki.. Lieutenant Sarugaki"

Ichigo and Hiyori looked to see a crouching Soul Reaper messanger crouching there in the road.

Ichigo looked at the male Soul Reaper. "Um.. Yeah?"

"You presence is requested in the Squad 1 captain's office immediately, captain Kurosaki sir"

"Uh.."

"Ichigo!.. Good morning!" exclaimed Rurichiyo as she ran down the street and jumped onto Ichigo. "Who are they?"

"Uh.. The head captain wats to see me and Hiyori about something"

Kenryu came up beside Ichigo and whispered. "But what about .. You know.. You can't just leave Lady Rurichiyo here defenseless "

"Yeah I know… uh. .you!.. The messenger guy I don't know the name of"

"Um…. Yes sir?"

"I'll be going back with you,but Hiyori here needs to stay here for right now"

"Um.. Sir?"

"Don't worry… I'll explain it to the old man myself"

"Hiyori.. Can you stay here and keep and eye on Rurichiyo?" Ichigo whispered into Hiyori's ear. "I'll make it up to you as soon as possible"

"You'll own me big time Ichigo" Hiyori whispered back, before speaking out loud. "Yeah… Ichigo's family keeps being targeted by sprits and I promised I'd help out as a Soul Repear and member of the family"

"Uh.. Of course ma'am.."

"Like I said, I'll talk to the head captain… so lead the way"

Rukia, who had come back after sensing the spiritual pressure of the messenger, promised to help protect Rurichiyo while Ichigo was gone.

The messenger opened a Senkaimon to the Soul Society before him and Ichigo went through it a moment later.

As soon as Ichigo and the messenger arrived in the Seireitei, Ichigo headed to the squad 1 barracks, where the other captains were already arriving as well.

"Uh.. Shunsui…Jushiro.. What is everyone doing here?" Ichigo asked, confused. "I was told the old man wanted to see me and Hiyori"

"He did?.. Well it was probably about the captain's meeting" Captain Kyoraku stated tipping his hat. "There was supppose to be a meeting the other day, but it was postponed"

"Oh.. I see…" Ichigo said, blinking.

"Well come on, no need to dillydally, Ichigo" Kyoraku said with smile. "Oh.. And you should probably meet the new captain of squad 3 while your at it"

"New squad captain?" Ichigo asked stopping in his tracks. "When did this happen?"

"Not long ago.. You were in the world of the living at the time when the captain decided to let a candidate take the captain's exam in order to fill up an empty spot in the squads as soons as possible" Jushiro said with a friendly smile. "He seems to be a fairly good man, from the few times I've met him"

"Oh. Um ok"

With that Ichigo followed the tw other captains inside the hall where most of the other captains were already standing. Soifon gave a Ichigo a rare friendly smile while Hitsugaya, Unohana and Komamura all gave friendly greetings to him, Kyoraku and Shunsui. Kenpachi then walked in, nearly late and gave Ichigo a sharp toothed grin before the the newest captain appeared looking a bit scruffy. As soon as he did the Head captain appeared in his seat at the end of the hall with a flash-step and called the meeting to order.

"This meeting will now come to order" The head captain said tapping his cane on the floor. "The purpose of this meeting is to introduce our newest member of the 13 court guard squads.. To those who have not met him, this is Shusuke Amagai, the new captain of squad 3"

"Nice to meet everyone.." Amagai said with a friendly smile "I hope to do my best to help squad 3 return to full strength"

All the captains gave greetings to Amagai, with Ichigo just standing there staring at him. He thought he should also say hi, but part of him told him not too… that something was wrong… specifically his inner hollow.

"_I don't trust him King"_

"_Why not?"_

"_I don't know… just a bad feeling king.. Watch him carefully"_

"Ichigo?.. You ok?" Kyoraku asked bringing Ichigo back to the real world. "Captain Amagai wanted to meet you but you were spacing out"

"What?.. Oh sorry.. I wasn't thinking about stuff" Ichigo said blinking a bit.

"It's fine.. It's good to meet you in person captain Kurosaki" Amagai stated, putting out his hand to shake Ichigo's. "I heard you only joined a little while ago as well and I also heard you've made quite a name for yourself so for.. I had meet this mysterious young man myself"

"Uh…sure.. Hi there" Ichigo said somewhat absently.

"You seem very different from what I imaged you be like.. Your quite young… not that I have anything against it" Amagai said with a smile. " Nonetheless, I look forward to working with you as well as everyone else"

"Uh yeah. .sure" Ichigo said nodding ,though not shaking his hand. "Are we dismissed?"

"The head captain just left so I assume so Ichigo" Jushiro answered looking down the hall.

"Good… cause I need to take care of something" Ichigo said walking away. " I promised Hiyori, who's still in the wolrd of the living, that I'd call her"

"Of course Ichigo.. Can't keep a young lady waiting on you can you?" Kyoraku stated with smal laugh. "My Nanao is the samew way.. Whenever I go somewhere she demands I tell her where I'm going so she can find me.. Probably because she's worried she won't be able to gaze at me for a while"

No sooner then he said that did a stack of papers hit hit in his face knocking him down and standing there was Nanao Ise herself. "Don't be stupid captain… I only ask where your going.. To make sure you don't skip out on work and go drinking!"

"My lovely Nanao.. Always so cruel to me" Kyoraku said, groaning on the floor.

"Idiot… promise you won't ever act like this guy, Ichigo" Nanao said, looking at him. "One moron like this is more then enough"

"Uh.. Sure.. I promise" Ichigo said before walking off, and pulling out his soul pager. "Hello, Hiyori?.. Yeah it's me.. The meeting was just for us to ,e the new captain of squad 3... Ama.. Eer…what was it?.. Amage.. No.. ama something or other.. He seems ok.. Though my inner hollow told me not to trust him"

"I'm not sure why.. he just said to watch him" Ichigo continued, as he stood on top of a roof. "I'll be home soon.. I'm going to go check in on our squad sicne it's been a awhile and it's unfair for Akira to try and run the squad like she has.. I'll let you know when I'm on my way.. I'll see you late.. Love you"

After hanging up, Ichigo flash stepped over to his squad barracks and tracked down Akira, who was, as he expected, lazing around and laying on the floor of hs office.

"Um.. I'm sure the chair would have been more comfortable Akira" Ichigo said standing over top of her.

"C-captian!" Akira exclaimed blushing slightly. "Your back"

"Yeah.. For the moment.. And what did I say?...call me Ichigo" He said, shaking his head slightly.

"R-right.. Ich-Ichigo" Akira stuttered as Ichigo reached down and helped her stand up.

"Listen.. I wanna thank you for shouldering the burden of running the squad like you have been while I've been gone…sorry to force that on you, Akira" Ichigo said sincerely. "You've done a really great job though"

"It's… it's nothing sir ,really.. I mean Ichigo" Akira replied, twidling her thumbs. "Are…are you back for good?"

"I wish I was.. But unfortunately I got soemting important to do in the world of the living.. I'm watching over someone that's in trouble and needs my help" Ichigo said, sighing. "Sorry to ask this, but can you still watch over our squad for a little bit longer Akira?"

"Of course Ichigo.. Leave it too me.." Akira said, with barely there smile. "I'll do my best"

"Thanks… keep up the great work Akira" Ichigo said patting her on her head. "I hate to run, but I really need to get back… the person I'm helping is just a little kid after all"

"Good luck sir"

Ichigo waved off a thanks before disappearing again from sight, leaving Akira alone again to flop into his chair and relax.

Ichigo flash stepped out of way, to Sokyoku hill before opening a gate to return to the world of the living but before he stepped through, his soul pager rang.

"ICHIGO! THIS IS RUKIA!" Rukia yelled through his phone. "It's Rurichiyo.. She's been taken,.. By several assassins!"

"WHAT!? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!? YOU AND HIYORI ARE THERE!" Ichigo yeled back. "What?.. They showed up and split you up?.. Damn it!…I'm on my way"

"No.. the assassin's.. they used a Senkaimon and dragged her through it" Rukia stated, making Ichigo stop in his tracks. " Their most like there already there somewhere.. Me, Hiyori, Kenryu, Enryu and Chad are on our way, Orihime said she'll join us after she heals Uryu, who got his arm broken while fighting"

"Right.. I'll be here waiting.. Hurry" Ichigo said before hanging up. "Damn it.. This is that.. Um… that guy there.. What's his name? Kumoi I think?.. This is his fault"

A few minutes later a Senkaimon opened and out ran Rukia, a pissed looking Hiyori, a netural Chad, and Kenryu and Enryu who were both extremely nervous looking.

"I can't believe that bitch got the away from me!" Hiyori growled angerly.

"What is she talking about?" Ichigo asked looking at Rukia.

"She was fighting a female assassin who somehow got away from her" Rukia explained. "I guess she was either stronger then her, or caught her off guard"

"Off guard my ass!" Hiyori yelled.. "She started groping my breasts and ass and licking my ear before kicking me onto a building and disappearing!"

"Uh.. I see" A red facd Ichigo said blinking. "Uh.. Let's uh.. Let's just find where they took Ruruchiyo"

"How should we do this?" Rukia asked ,looking over. "Should we split up?"

"Yeah.. Might as well" Ichigo said nodding. "Rukia can you go with Chad and Enryu, while I go with Hiyori and Kenryu?"

"Right.. Good luck… I'll let you know if we find her" Rukia said as she, Chad and Enryu ran off.

"Right.. same here!" Ichigo yelled back. "Ok.. Um… any ideas where they would take her?"

"Possibly back to the Kasumioji clan house" Kenryu answered, looking fidgety.

"The clan house?.. Why the fuck would they take her there?" Hiyori asked, looking as confused as Ichigo felt.

Kenryu sighed and look over at Ichigo and Hiyori. "Because.. You see.. The only way for Kumoi to control the clan is to either kill Lady Rurichiyo.. Or.. To force her to marry someone he has control over"

"..and your only telling us the second part now.. Because why?" Ichigo asked, looking very frustrated. "If you think she's there then can we go there?"

"I.. I had hoped that it wouldn't get that far" Kenru admited, looking down. " AS fro going there.. That might not be a good idea.. At least not entirely.. Because until Lady Rurichiyo either dies or is married, Kumoi already has partial control over the clan. And I have no doubt that he would do anything to prevent us for getting her back"

"This is getting more fucking annoying by the moment" Ichigo growled. "I'm about two seconds away from blasting my way inside to get her back myself"

"If you did that, I gurrrentee Kumoi would have you arrested for trespassing and destroying clan property" Kemryu reasoned. "Since the 13 Court guard squads cannot official get involved with clan matters unless requested and approved by the head captain, the clan head and central 46, you would be in serious trouble if you did anything against the clan while Kumoi has power"

"Like I've ever cared about rules" Ichigo said, still annoyed like no one's business. "Come Hiyori.. Were going to the Kasumioji clan house.. Kenryu can show us from a distance if he's a pussy and doesn't want Kumio after him"

"F-.. fine.. We'll go.. But it's on your head if trouble happens" Kenryu said frowning. "Follow me"

Kenryu led them along rooftops for a bit until he came to a stop and turned around t oface them. "Ok.. You can see the clan house from here.. It's right down there"

"Holy shit .. That's one big fricken estate" Ichigo exclaimed with widen eyes.

"Well it's not that big.. Though I suppose for a commoner like you it's considered big" Kenryu commented.

"What was that!?" Ichigo growled, grabbing him by his collar.

"Hey.. Enough with the pissing contest you two!" Hiyori said smacking both of them. "Were here to save the girl right?.. Argue later"

"Right.. So what the plan?.. Anyone got any good ideas, short stuff?" Ichigo asked looking downward at Hiyori.

After kicking him in his shin, Hiyori answered him.

"We should split up.. Kenryu can try to convince the guards that Rurichiyo wanted him to come here for something, while I hide my spiritual energy in order to sneak inside the back…" Hiyroi answered, rubbing her chin. "While we're doing that, Ichigo can cause a commotion that will draw attention away from where I am so I can better infiltrate the area"

"Well.. That's a pretty good idea I guess" Ichigo said ,while Kenryu nodded in agreement. "I'm surprised you came up with it so fast"

"Actually it was the author of this story that came up with it, while he was watchnig anime" Hiyori stated, making the other two sweat drop. "Even though only a few moments passed her between when you asked about a place and when I answered.. It actually took the author like 10 minutes or so to come up with it since he was distracted by his anime"

"Enough breaking the fourth wall so much" Ichigo siad, with a annoyed look. " Are we ready to do this then?"

"Hey you.. You three up there! halt" said a male voice. "Your trespassing on Kasumioji property.. If you do not leave the head captain of the 13 court guard squads will be informed and you will be arrested"

All three of them looked down and saw several gaurds standing there holding strange staffs.

"Well fuck me.. So much for our plan" Ichigo commented bitterly.

"Not so much… you go deal with them so I can go around them and finda a "back door" Hiyori siad before disappearing from sight.

"Damn it.. Oh well.. Let's go" Ichigo said, pulling his sword off his back and jumping down while Kenryu reluctantly followed.

As Ichigo and Kenryu were about to face ther guards, Rukia, Chad and Enryu were dealing with their own problems…

Not long after separating from Ichigo, Hiyori and Kenryu, they ended up getting cornered by two of the assassins, that were both wielding the same strange weapon that the last assassin had on him.

Neither one of them talked much outside of saying were going to kill Rukia, Chad and Enryu, and they were trying their best to keep their promise.

Will they survive?, will they die? Will Kenpachi regret eating 2 week old chocolate cake that's about to giver him explosive diarrhea and food poisoning?.. Will the secret to old man Yamamoto's long eyebrows be revealed? I have no idea and neither do you for right now.. So tune in next to an all new episode of Biker Mice from Mars.. I mean Bleach…

same bat time .. Same bat channel! maybe!.. Unless the sun implodes..

To be continued….

Hi.. I got this chapter down way sooner then usual huh? It's because iwas ona writing streak.. And because might have some interenet isssues for a while and be unable to upload anything for bit. So I wanted to do one one chapter before I have to take a small break.. .though If I don't have to take a break maybe I'll get another chapter up soon.. I'm not sure yet..

Please read, review and enjoy..


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 54

Sorry about the really long wait, I didn't have internet for like month ( which drove me insane by the way) and I've been busy with lots of crap.. but anyways, time for the next chapter…that's what you're here for after all…

We rejoin Ichigo as he made quick work of the guards while Kenryu helped slightly in the background and in a matter of a few minutes, the guards were laying on the ground unconscious.

Ichigo place his sword back on his back and looked over and Kenryu. "Well… at least that was easy… but we should go on in now before more show up and hold us up any longer"

"Um.. Right" Kenryu stated, nodding as he followed Ichigo to the front gate.

Ichigo pushed spiritual energy into his leg before kicking the gate off the hinges and stepping inside with Kenryu right behind him. Ichigo let Kenryu direct him where to start looking at first but took the lead for when they encountered more guards, knowing that he would be able to more easily deal with them then Kenryu would.

Kenryu then directed Ichigo down a series of hallways, while Ichigo knocked out numerous guards with his sword and scared off several servants along the way using just his spiritual pressure.

Eventually they wound up in the main area of the house where Kenryu was sure that Rurichiyo might be taken by Kumoi. They opened the door and inside standing was Kumoi himself and in front of his, facing away from Ichigo and Kenryu, was Rurichiyo.

"Rurichiyo!" Ichigo yelled out. "Get away from Kumoi!.. He's the one who sent that guy after you!"

"Too late Ichigo Kurosaki" Kumoi said smugly and calmly. "Rurichiyo is my puppet now.. And won't listen to you or Kenryu"

"Rurichiyo!.. Don't listen to that bastard.. Listen to me and Kenryu!" Ichigo yelled, ignoring Kumoi though Rurichiyo was just as unresponsive to him as before. " Kumoi…You son of a bitch"

"Manners manners, _Captain_ Kurosaki.. Wouldn't want to set a bad example for your squad now would you?.. Oh wait… you already have by breaking into the Kasumioji clan estate" Kumoi said mockingly. "As it is, your going to be arrested and will spend the rest of your life in the maggot's nest.. The worst "prison" in the Soul Society… I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends there"

"Your seriously one fucked up piece of work…you honesty think that's what's going to happen? Cause I got news for you.. The only one going to this maggot's nest place.. Will be you" Ichigo said, flaring his spiritual energy angrily. "Though I can't guarantee you'll go entirely intact…"

"Hehehe.. How amusing you are boy…" Kumoi snapped his fingers and girl dressed in similar fashioned as the last assassin appeared in a crouch next to Kumoi. "Take care of the one with the orange hair"

"Mmm… gladly" the girl said licking her lips seductively. "Too bad he's on the opposite side…he's.. Quite good looking"

"Flirt all you like…Just take care of him" Kumoi said as he turned away, put a hand on Rurichiyo's shoulder and walked away. "Have fun.. Captain"

"Damn it.. Kenryu.. I'll distract her while you go after Kumoi and Rurichiyo" Ichigo whispered while keeping his eyes on the female assassin. "Be careful and good luck… just wait my signal"

Kenryu nodded and stood back to await Ichigo to act.

"You know… I wasn't kidding when I said your were good looking… I'd love to take you for a ride if you catch my drift" The girl said winking. "By the way… how old are you?… it's impossible to tell here in the soul society after all"

"..15 years old… and I'm not from the Soul Society.. I was born in the world of the living 15 years ago" Ichigo answered narrowing his eyes. "Not that my age matters right now since I'm going to kick your ass"

"Mmm feisty. And young.. I'm old enough to be your mother.. Then again, I've heard young guys in the world of the living like older experienced women… what are we called? Milfs I believe?.. You wanna get with this milf?" She said grinning and undoing her top so that her cleavage was more exposed . "I'm betting your either a virgin or fairly inexperienced at your age…I'd love to teach you all I know.. So what do you say we don't fight and instead just go back to my place so we can have a little fun?"

"No thanks.. Already have a girlfriend and have plenty of experience" Ichigo said blushing slightly as he pulled his sword off his back and let the cloth around it fall away. "Now.. You have choice of your own to make.. Either stand aside.. Or ill take you down"

"So your saying you'll go down on me?.. Nice.. I'd see your skills with you tongue" the girl said making flirty gesture with her eye brows.

"I just told you I have girlfriend, you fricken pervert!" Ichigo yelled as he swung his sword at the girl who nimbly dodged the blade. "Damn it.. Stand still would you!"

"Ha!.. Not likely cutie" The girl said, winking at him as she did a back flip and pulled out a sword. "I wish we could just go some where and be alone.. But unfortunately, it's my job to kill you"

"You can try, but it'll be your funeral" Ichigo said as he unleashed a Getsuga Tenshou at he girl.

The girl thought she could dodge it, but was caught off guard by the size and force of Ichigo's attack as she jumped out of it's path. It grazed her arm, burning off the material covering it and leaving a painful burn across her arm.

"Son of a bitch… that really fucking hurt!" The girl growled. "I was going to go easy on you.. Maybe have some fun together.. But if this is how you wanna play.. Then be warned.. I won't show you any mercy!"

The girl pulled out a second sword and jumped at him as she spun around in mid air. Ichigo blocked her swords Zangetsu and pushed her back away from him. Ichigo was frustrated as the girl was very thin and flexible, managing to move out of the way of Ichigo's further attempts to cut her with his sword. Every time he swung his sword, the girl would, move to the side, bend over, do a split or back flip out of the way.

Ichigo took a deep breath and thought back to something Kisuke once told him while helping him train once.

Flashback

"_Damn it, Kisuke!" Ichigo said as he got kicked into a boulder. "How do you know what I was going to do?.. Before I knew what I was going to do?"_

"_Think of fighting like a game of chess.. A violent, deadly game of chess" Kisuke replied, spinning his sword around his hand. "In order to win you must not only think about your immediate attack, but you must plan several moves ahead.. and you must also learn to anticipate your opponent's moves ahead of time…"_

"_That… seems really complicated" Ichigo said wiping fastest from his forehead. "Won't you risk getting seriously injured or killed trying to do that?"_

"_But of course.. Then again.. Most battles are to the death anyways.. So if you want to be the victor and live...then I suggest you learn to adapt to your enemy, and do it fast" Kisuke said with a grin as he came back at Ichigo again. "Remember Ichigo!.. Most battles you don't get many changes to do things over again if you wrongly guess your opponent's attack pattern.. So think carefully"_

End flashback

"_Right.. Watch her moves carefully and find any pattern that can be exploited" _Ichigo thought to himself as the girl ran at him.

As Ichigo did his best to dodge her, he tried to pay attention to her moves, looking for some kind of pattern in her attack. He got cuts, and scrapes from her swords while managing to injure her back, though his main goal was see about a pattern. It took quite a while and numerous slashes to his body, that really hurt by the way, but a pattern began to finally emerge.

"_I see… so she always swings with one of her swords, while keeping the other as sort of shield incase I slip by and slash at her…" _Ichigo thought as he tested this.

Sure enough, Ichigo came at her and she sung back, with one sword while keeping the other with her to block Zangetsu with. He also noticed that the girl would take short swings in order to have time to keep her guard up. In addition to this, Ichigo noticed that while she was quite skilled with her swords, she relied heavily on them, making him wonder how her hand to hand abilities were.

Ichigo swung his sword again and using his quick agility, dropped to the floor as soon as she blocked Zangetsu with both swords. He spun around ,using his leg to knock her off her feet and knock her down, though she dropped her swords and did a back flip before she hit the ground.

"You may have not got knocked down, but at least you dropped your weapons" Ichigo said, kicking her swords away, behind him.

"Son of a bitch.. How the fuck could I have fell for that?!" The girl growled out balling her fists. "This is bullshit.. I call do over!"

"Do over?.. Are you a child or something? I'm not to "give you a do over"! Ichigo exclaimed with wide eyes and a outraged expression. "Either give up or end up in the hospital"

"Like hell!" The girl said, glaring at Ichigo. "I'll kick your ass or die trying .. Or my name isn't Riko Shimazaki!"

"Riko huh?.. About time I get a name out of you…" Ichigo commented. "I'm warning you though, if you stay in my way of getting to Rurichiyo,.. I will end you"

"Oh really?.. You wanna save the little brat?" Riko asked in a low voice. "she might live or she might die…but that's not really my problem though... If you want that girl bad enough, then bring it on asshole"

"It's your life to throw away, Riko.. I just hope it's worth it" Ichigo said, holding his sword in front of him. "Bankai!"

A soon as the smoke cleared, Ichigo dashed forward swinging his sword incredibly fast at Riko, who barely had time to grab onto one of her swords and block.

"That's just an ordinary sword.. Meaning it won't hold up for long against my Zanpakuto" Ichigo stated, as he pulled his sword back and sung again, knocking Riko back. "Last chance.. Give up or end up in a bad way"

"Oh really?.. Haven't you ever heard of the phrase.. Looks can be deceiving?" Riko said, holding her sword to the side. "Strike, Buredo no Rinko!"

"Wait.. That's a Zanpakuto?!" Ichigo exclaimed as her sword changed shaped so that the blade was now segmented. "Almost reminds me of Renji's sword…"

"Ready for round two, cutie?" Riko asked while grinning at Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed and gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto. "Why are things never straight forward?"

bleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleach

Meanwhile, Hiyori had reached the back of the estate and taken out several guards along the way as she made her way through the enormous house.

"This is a pain in the ass…" Hiyori commented as she took out yet another guard that had gotten in her way. "I still think this whole thing is a mistake, helping some brat we don't even know"

"_You didn't think twice about helping a certain orange haired brat you just met.. Did you?" _Kubiriki Orochi said to her in her mind. _"Remember that?"_

"Sh-shut up!.. That was different… It's not like I'm not the one who gave him my powers or anything…" Hiyori argued back. "I just found him interesting, that's all…"

"_Sure you did.. Especially his butt if I remember correctly" _Her Zanpakuto said laughing.

"If I could I would strangle you with your own intestines!" Hiyori growled while barring her teeth. "I'm busy so just go bug someone else"

"_Like who, smartass?"_

"Don't know, don't care"

With that Hiyori ran on, ignoring her Zanpakuto that decided to call her various swearwords, including ones even Hiyori had never heard before.

After a few minutes of running around the halls of the huge house that was a bit confusing, she came to a stop in a large room that appeared to be almost entirely empty, except a man standing there holding a scythe and dressed in the same clothes as the assassins that came after Rurichiyo in the world of the living. He was very strange looking with pink skin, almost no hair, bizarre widely spaced square teeth and long scare going down across one eye that, combined with a black piece of material going sideways across his nose, made a cross pattern.

"Another assassin? Give me a break…" Hiyori commented, with a annoyed tone. "Hurry up and come at me so I can kill you and get on my way"

"Aren't you confident, little boy" The man said, staring at Hiyori as he gave a crazed grinned. "The only one dieing here is you though… don't worry though.. I'll kill you slowly so we both enjoy it!"

"Do you know how many people have used the "you look like a boy cause your flat chested and act boy like" joke on me?.. Too many to count, to be honest" Hiyori commented stand in still and holding her sword in front of her. " Now enough of the shit and fight me!"

"As you wish…" The man said, grinning even wider. "Let's have some fun, bitch!"

"You got some serious problems, shit bag.. And I don't just mean the way you look either" Hiyori said, shaking her head. "Let's go already"

"Fine with me, short stuff!"

The man threw his scythe at Hiyori, with it connected to a chain that he held onto in his hands. Hiyori grunted slightly, knocked the scythe away with her sword as she ran at him. Hiyori jumped as she ran and swung her sword down at the guy, who managed to move out of the way.

The man growled and, to Hiyori's confusion, took a bit out of the scythe's blade, causing his skin to become jagged and blades to grow out of his back. The man grinned and turned around, somehow firing the pieces of blades from his back at Hiyori.

She managed to dodged most of them, though several of them tore through her right leg, side and shoulder. She held her hand to her shoulder and blood dripped out of the wound, making her hand wet and sticky.

"Fuck, that hurt" Hiyori commented, cringing a bit. "You better get ready for me to return the favor, you ugly mother fucker.. Butcher that son of a bitch, Kubiriki!"

"Oooh.. Nice sword, dead girl" The man said, grinning widely. "I might as well tell you my name bitch.. You can either call me your killer or Jinnai Doko"

"I'd rather call you my latest kill" Hiyori said, using flash step and slashing her sword into his back, causing blood to spray out and him to howl in pain. " The sooner you surrender or die, you sooner this will be over for you, freak job"

"You little bitch!" Jinnai yelled swinging his sword blindly in her direction, after she had already flash- stepped out of the way. "Stand still!"

"Fuck off" Hiyori replied, glaring after she reappeared and was wrapping a piece of her jacket's sleeve she had torn off, around her bleeding shoulder. "Because f you, my favorite sweat jacket is ruined.. The shop I got this at closed down like 45 years ago, how am I suppose to replace it!?"

"Don't know , don't care .. And that has little to do with the plot of the chapter ,so shut up shrimp!" He yelled in response as he bit into and ate more of his scythe that re-grew after he finished. " I'm gonna carve you into shreds blondie!"

His skin became even more spikier after he ate his scythe and more blades grew out of his back again. He licked his lips and grinned wildly at Hiyori as he began swinging his scythe around by it's chain. Hiyori however, was unimpressed and just stood there looking bored before using flash step to launch herself at him and swing her sword at him again. This time however, he pulled his scythe up and blocked her attack, sending sparks flying. She began repeatedly swinging her sword at the man, who managed to block her every time despite her using flash step to appear in different place around him with each swing.

This trading of blows went on for nearly ten minutes, before they both jumped back away from each other.

"This is a lot of fun, but I'm use to my prey being dead by now" Jinnai stated, growling. "This is becoming more a nuisance then it is fun…"

"Not my problem, asshole" Hiyori countered, glaring at him. "Your in my way.. So I'll say it again.. Surrender, or die.. Just get out of my way already"

"Not likely kid"

Jinnai ate more and more of his scythe, growing more blades on his back and when he was done his skin barley resembled skin anymore, due to it's jagged, spiky appearance. In addition, his scythe re-grew, but was bigger, slightly twisted and seemed unstable with power.

Hiyori saw this and figured if she pushed him to his limited he'd over load his weapon and pretty much defeat himself. Hiyori dashed forward, swinging her sword at him meeting the blade of his weapon with a loud clang sound. She stayed on the offensive, and repeatedly struck at him, without stop, though she had to lower her guard and got more and more slashes as a result.

Sure enough, as Jinnai relied more and more on the power of his weapon, he acted more hastily and acted more irrationally. Eventually, he came to a stop and Hiyori observed him from a safe distance as he started lashing out wildly. The chain he held on to in one hand, began to fuse with his hand causing him to yell out in pain,

As Hiyori watched, the chain seemed to seem under Jinnai's skin, while he thrashed around . The scythe and chain glowed as it began to consume him, and Hiyori knew that what ever was happening , it would mean Jinnai's end. Knowing that, Hiyori returned her sword to his sealed form and stood back, cautious but relaxed.

As she figured the weapon raged out of control and Hiyori took the cue to leave the room with flash step, coming to a stop outside the room, while Jinnai screamed inside it for a few minutes before an violent explosion was heard that actually made Hiyori cringe slightly.

Although she didn't exactly understand entirely what happened, she didn't really care. Hiyori then checked her wounds, tightening the sleeve piece that was currently acting as makeshift bandage around her arm, and continued on her way to meet up with Ichigo and find Rurichiyo.

While this was all going on at the Kasumioji clan house, Rukia , Chad and Enryu were dealing with the several assassin's that had come after them. Rukia was taking the lead against one of the assassins with her released Zanpakuto.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"

Rukia build up spiritual energy at the tip of her Zanpakuto and after a moment, released an avalanche of ice and snow at her enemy. The assassin was not the strongest and despite trying to escape, got his arm, leg and most of his right side, caught in the ice and was flash frozen.

Not waiting for him to free himself, Chad immediately shot a El Directo at the assassin, creating an explosion that to finish him off. It was then down to only two more assassins that were both ruthless with their attacks, not waiting for a moments notice to attack, even as their teammate was destroyed.

"Damn Soul Reaper.. I'll kill you!" One of them yelled, as they swung their strange sword at Rukia, who managed to barely move out of it's path. "Hold still little girl!"

"Not likely!" Rukia retorted as she focused her Reishi. "Hado 4, Byakurai!"

"Not this time, brat!" The male assassin said, as he held up his sword which created an energy shield around him, defelecting the lightening attack. "Nothing can get through my shield!"

"Don't worry Chad, no defense, no matter how strong, is truly invincible" Rukia said as she jumped back by Chad and Enryu. " If theirs a way through, we'll find it"

Chad nodded and gave a simple reply in return. "I hope so.."

The other remaining assassin had a Bo staff weapon and dashed forward at them, spinning the staff like a helicopter blade as he swung it at them. Chad blocked the staff with the armor on his arm, while Rukia came at him from the side with her Zanpakuto. However, the other assassin intereviened, and slashed his sword into Rukia's back, stopping her for following through with the attack.

Rukia fell back and had blood running down her back, which made her cringe in pain as Enryu ran forward, punching the assassin and sending him flying into a nearby wall.

"Rukia!.. Are you alright?!" Chad somewhat yelled as he pushed the Bo staff wielding man back.

"More or less" She replied painfully. "I'm still alive at least.. But I shouldn't have been caught off guard so easily.. It's disgraceful for a member of the 13 court guard squads"

"I'll say.. But at least your not giving up. That would be far more disgraceful" saida male voice from above them. "Extend… Hozukimaru !"

Down jumped Ikkaku with his Zanpakuto transformed into it staff like form, that he swung at the staff weilding assassin with all his might.

"Ha! Glad I decided to skip guard duty... Seems like every time I do, I find a great fight" Ikkaku said grinning. "First with Ichigo and now this!"

"Sigh.. Ever the brute Ikkaku" Yumichika said as he appeared next to Rukia. "As for you miss Kuchiki.. You look a bit under the weather with nasty back wound"

"Ehh,… medical treament can wait.. We need to stop them first" Rukia said, standing up cringing.

"Agreed.. But stay out of Ikkaku's way as he deasl with the staff weilding assassin" Yumichika said, in his normal flamboyant tone. "Just stick with the other one"

"As long as we stop both of them, it will be fine" Rukia said, taking a deep breath as she readied her weapon again. "We have to find a way through that shield"

"I'll distract him… you get him while he's open" Chad said in a low voice.

"Right.. Be careful though" Rukia said nodding. "I'll need to get this attack just right"

Chad activated his armor over his arm and ran forward, swinging at the assassin who block his fist with his sword. They continued to parry each other, Chad's fist with the assassin's weapon, for quite some time. With each clash, Chad pushed the assassin back more and more, causing him to go on the defensive more and more.

"Damn it...this strange human.. He shouldn't be able to push me like this" The assassin growled out in frustration. "Just die human!"

"Ok, Sode no Shirayuki.. I know you said I wasn't ready to use this technique.. But I have no choice" Rukia whispered to her Zanpakuto. "I know the risks but I need to do this"

"_Please don't Rukia.. You know the dangers of using this technique when your not ready" _Sode no Shirayuki pleaded in Rukia's mind. _"I hope this is worth it"_

"It is, Sode no Shirayuki.." Rukai whispered as she closed her eyes and gathered all her spirit energy. before slashing her glowing sword across the air in front of her, making an x pattern.

The air around Rukai and the whoel as well, all rapidly dropped in temperature, as ice crystals form on the skin of the assassin. Chad ran to cover, and ice tried to cover him as well.

The air chilled and theat when Rukia opened her now glowing eyes and stabbed her sword into the air, through the x pattern.

"Saigo no Mai.. Hyotenka!"

Intense ice, snow and cold flooded the area where the assassin stood as he screamed in pain from the intense subzero cold. When Rukai cold stand the cold, that also began to envelope her, she pulled the sword back, causing an implosion of ice and snow, that froze the assassin down to his very molecules. It was then that Ruka collapsed to the ground with a thud, from the overuse of her powers.

Chad ran over to Rukia to check on her as soon as he could, but found that she was unconscious and decided to pick her up and take her off to either find Orihime or take her to the Squad 4 medical barracks. This left Ikkaku to deal with the Bo staff weilding assassin, and he looked to be having a lot of fun, even though the assassin looked more and more pissed by the second as Ikkaku toyed with him.

"Stop playing around you, bald freak!" The assassin shouted at Ikkaku.

"I'm not bald you idiot! I just like to shave my head!" Ikkaku retorted, as he fought using both his Zanpakuto and his sheathe. "By the way.. What's wrong with having a little fun while we fight? We should enjoy this, make it last as long as possible.. I've personally got all day, so why rush things?"

"In fact.. Why don't kick things up a notch?" Ikkaku said as he put the tip of the handle of his Zanpakuto against the opening of his sheathe. "Extend.. Hozukimaru!"

"Now.. Let's have some real fun!" Ikkaku said laughing as he swung his weapon's new form at the assassin. "Make sure to give me a good fight now.. I want this to last!"

"I'll end this fast, Soul Reaper.. With your death!" The assassin yelled as he traded blows with Ikkaku.

"Ha!.. Talk about a clichéd thing to say" Ikkaku retorted, shaking his head as he flash-stepped around the assassin to further piss him off. "Try coming up with something more original"

The assassin swung his staff around, trying to hit Ikkaku while shouting at him. "Shut up, you asshole!"

"Why so mad? Getting pissed that you can't hit me?" Ikkaku grinned wildly. "This really is fun.. But try a little harder would you? I skipped guard duty for this, so make it worth it"

"I'll make it worth it alright.." The assassin growled. "By killing you fast!"

"What did I say about being cliché?" Ikkaku asked, as he flipped behind his opponent and knocked him off his feet with his staff. "Be more original with your taunts, dead man"

Chad meanwhile, managed to get the unconscious Rukia to the squad 4 barracks with a little help from some Soul Reapers who pointed the way.

Chad arrived at the barracks where the captain of squad four, Captain Unohana was standing with her lieutenant Isane.

"Chad!.. What happened to Rukia?" Isane exclaimed.

"She used some attack with her Zanpakuto, I've never seen before" Chad said, as Unohana and Isane led him inside to a room for Rukia. "As soon as she was done with defeating the enemy, she collapsed"

"Do not worry, Chad.. We will take care of Miss Kuchiki" Captain Unohana said calmly as she and Isane got started on a examination. "If you wish to stay, you many, however, you must wait out side till we have changed miss Kuchiki into a hospital gown and gave her full examination to determine what is wrong with her"

Chad, as expected, gave a simple response to them before going into the hallway to wait. "Ok"

Nearly a half hour later, the door opened and Unohana and Isane walked out, both looking a bit unsettled.

"I'm afraid she overloaded herself by using a technique with her Zanpakuto that she wasn't ready to use.." Captain Unohana stated calmly. "As a result of the backlash.. Miss Kuchiki is in coma and I'm am uncertain when she will awaken"

"I see… what if Orihime took a look at her?" Chad suggested, visibly worried.

"I would recommend against that, for the time being" Unohana said, glancing at the comatose Rukia. "It will be far safer for her body to recover slowly, rather the all at once.. At least until her body heals on it's own at first"

"Do not lose heart" Unohana said with a small smile. "Rukia will recover.. It will just take some time"

"I see… I wonder how Ichigo will take this?" Chad asked, looking over at Rukia.

"Indeed… by the way.. Where is Ichigo?" Unohana inquired. "There have been reports of a fight in the upper-class area of the Soul Society… should we assume that he is involved?"

"Um.. Kind of.. It's complicated" Chad replied, neutrally.

"It usually is, when Ichigo is involved" Unohana replied with a small laugh. "I do hope he's not over head"

"Which is also something that happens often" Isane pointed out.

"Yeah.. It does" Chad said with nod. "Hope he's ok"

Speaking of Ichigo again..

Ichigo was still dealing with Kumoi's assassin Riko and had finally gained the upper hand thanks to his Bankai and him donning his Vizard mask.

"Just give up Riko!" Ichigo shouted as he flash stepped behind her and gave her shallow, but painful wound. "I don't wanna hurt you, but your not giving me a choice!"

"Blah, blah.. Just fight to win!" Riko retorted, slightly in pain. "Winning is the only thing that matters!"

"Not to me.. To me.. The only thing important right now, is getting to Rurichiyo and saving her from Kumoi!" Ichigo yelled back, as he swung his sword at her, clashing against Riko's sword and pushing her back.

"That's not my problem!" Riko said doing a cartwheel out of the way.

"If you won't stand down.. Then I'll have no choice but to end you, right now" Ichigo stated as his eyes glowed while black and red spiritual energy gathered around his Zanpakuto. "This is your chance.. Give up.. Or die"

Riko said nothing as she advanced on him, despite, missing every swing as Ichigo used his considerably faster speed to out maneuver her.

Ichigo sigh before a large wave of black and red spiritual energy swirled around his Zanpakuto as he prepared to finish her off.

"Ultimate.. Getsuga...Tenshou!"

A enormous wave of spiritual energy was sent from Ichigo's sword and despite Riko's best efforts she could not escape it's size, speed and power. She screamed but it was quickly drowned out as the wave over took her, vaporizing her, along with a wall of the mansion, and a mile long path of destruction was carved out.

"I hope… that's .. not taken out of…my salary" Ichigo said taking a few deep breaths between words. "I need to find Rurichiyo…and that bastard Kumoi"

Ichigo ran out of the room still in Bankai form to go looking for Kumoi. He had quite some time to escape though, meaning Ichigo wasn't really sure where look and knew he'd end up nowhere with out some idea.

"Ichigo!" Hiyori called out flash stepping over to him. "You didn't find the brat…er...kid yet?"

"Her Rurichiyo.. And no.. I didn't Kumoi has her.. And she's kind of .. I guess in a trance or something.. Not really sure.. But.. Kumoi has control over her mind" Ichigo answered looking at his short girlfriend. "Not to mention the fact that I had to deal with an assassin that he used to delay me"

"Same here.. Some freaky guy with spiky skin.. He was totally fucked up looking" Hiyori replied, nodding. "I managed to deal with him after a while"

"Yeah, lets go.. Hey.. Your injured.. Are you ok?" Ichigo asked seeing blood on her back. "You wanna rest for a minute or.."

"No.. I'm fine!.. Sigh.. I mean I'm fine Ichigo, really.. It's not that bad" Hiyori said taking a deep breath, and giving him a brief hug. "Let's just find Kumoi, the girl and end this whole thing once and for all.. I'll get my back looked later.. Besides.. Your injured too"

"I'm fine too.. So let's get going babe" Ichigo said with a smile as he turned to go track down Rurichiyo.

"Right" Hiyori said before, kicking him in his ass lightly with grinning. "Just don't call me babe…it's almost as sappy as calling me honey, or sweetie.. Just stick with snaggletooth.. Got it, strawberry?"

"Sure.." Ichigo said nodding with a light smile. "Baby"

"Get back here!" Hiyori yelled as Ichigo ran out the room with her in hot pursuit. " Call me baby again and no sex for a week! You hear me strawberry!"

After tracking down Rurichiyo and Kumoi to an outside garden area, which took some time, Ichigo and Hiyori tried to be ready for anything. Rurichiyo was standing by Kumoi, looking as puppet like as the first time Ichigo had confronted Kumoi, only this time a third individual was stand there as well. The man was tall, Soul Reaper with messy chin length black/bluish hair and was wearing a captain's coat. Kenryu was also there, and was mildy woned and crouching near the door.

"What the?.. Another captain?" Ichigo commented, just as the man turned around.

"Oh.. Hello there.. I see you're a fellow captain" The man said in a rather friendly tone. "I don't recognize you two…What's your name?"

"Kurosaki.. Captain Kurosaki of squad 5 and this is my lieutenant, Hiyori" Ichigo said, keeping his grip tightly on his Zanpakuto. " Who are you.. And why are you with that bastard Kumoi?"

"Kumoi?.. That's quite simple really.. There was a report of a situation going on here involving Soul Reapers and the 13 court guard squads were informed" The man replied calmly. "I was the nearest to the this area and said I'd check it out.. Oh and my name is Shusuke Amagai, just appointed captain of squad 9"

"Oh really?.. I thought the 13 court guard squads didn't get involved with affairs of the nobles" Ichigo said, never taking his eyes of the captain. "But that's not the point.. That man Kumoi is a trader.. He sent people after Rurichiyo there to assassinate her in order to get power over her clan.. He's also brainwashed her.. He's the only one that's causing a problem here"

"Assassination?. Hahahaha. This boy has quite the imagination Captain Amagai" Kumoi stated with a grin. "He's clearly mistaken…. Would you be so kind as to escort this trespasser and his female associate off of the premises, captain Amagai?"

"No problem, Kumoi.. Come Ichigo and Hiyori.. No point in troubling them anymore" Amagai said as he started walking. "Let's go see the head captain"

"No.." Ichigo said firmly as he narrowed his eyes. "I don't care if your fooled by Kumoi.. But I'm not.. And neither is Hiyori, nor my friends from the world of the living, including Kisuke Urahara, Rukia Kuchiki, the younger sister of the head of the Kuchiki clan and Yoruichi, the head of the Shihoin clan.. We all know the truth, so I'm not going anywhere without freeing Rurichiyo from that mad man Kumoi"

Amagai looked over at Kumoi, who seemed to cower slightly before he flash stepped behind him and stabbed his Zanpakuto through him. Both Ichigo and Hiyori were at a loss of words at this since it was out of nowhere.

"Why?.." Kumoi struggled out. "I did everything you asked of me"

"You mean you tried to do everything I asked of you, but failed miserably most of the time" Amagai said with his eyes narrowed. "I asked you to do simple tasks for me and you messed up nearly all of them… I had you poison Rurichiyo's father, and it took far too long for him to die… I had you bribed the mid wives to ensure Rurichiyo and her mother would die at birth, but Rurichiyo survived… I asked you to kill the little girl while making it seem like an accident ,but she survived every attempt.. I even gave you assassins with powerful weapons and they we defeated by a group of humans and a pathetic substitute Soul Reaper, who's status of being a captain was not made aware to me… face it Kumoi.. You were a complete failure in the end"

"Amagai.. You were behind this?.. All of this?.. Including killing Rurichiyo's parents!?" Ichigo roared as his spiritual pressure flared around him. " I don't even wanna hear your reason.. Your as good as dead!"

"So naive boy… and so outclassed" Amagai, shedding away his friendly personality he had moments ago. "I've been planning my vengeance for long then you've been alive.. Even with all of these setbacks.. I will still win.. If you and your friends want to die, then by all means get in my way.. It's your choice"

"You have no idea who your dealing with Amagai" Hiyori said as she released her Zanpakuto. "Your ass is as good as dead.."

"I guess I should kill you two since you helped ruin things for me" Amagai said as he held up his Zanpakuto. "Sever.. Raika"

His Zanpakuto took the form of a white long sword with a hook at the tip of the sword and a pipe at the hilt.

"May the flames of my sword burn you both from existence" Amagai said as he swung his sword and a large ball of fire erupted from it, shooting at Ichigo and Hiyori.

Ichigo stood his ground and stabbed his sword into the ground as he unleashed a Getsuga Tenshou, which created a wall of black and red edged energy that blocked the fire from reaching him or Hiyori.

"Like the lady said… you have no idea who your dealing with Amagai" Ichigo stated as he pulled the sword out of the ground and held it front of him. "Wanna try again?"

Amagai looked at him and gave a nasty half grin "Gladly"

Amagai flash-stepped at Ichigo, swinging his sword at him, which Ichigo blocked with Zangetsu with a clang. Hiyori jumped behind Amagai, swinging at him, only for him to jump out of the way at the last second. But Ichigo and Hiyori made sure to keep up the pressure on Amagai, and Amagai was forced to defend against both of their Zanpakuto's simultaneously.

Amagai's sword alternated between clanging against both Ichigo and Hiyori's Zanpakuto's as they jumped around the garden. Ichigo made sure that to keep the battle away from the still hypnotized Rurichiyo in order to keep her safe, though it wasn't easy with Amagai's recklessness.

As Amagai felt him self being pushed back by the combined onslaught of Ichigo and Hiyori, he flashed his spiritual pressure to signal his third seat, Makoto Kibune, to join him in battle.

It wasn't long before Makoto showed up and landed near Amagai, with his word already released.

"This is unexpected, sir… not at all the way you planned" Makoto remarked.

"I agree…" Amagai agreed grimly. "This former Substitute Soul Reaper, his little girlfriend and that useless fool Kumoi have all messed up my plans… we need to eliminate these two obstacles, so that I can still succeed with my goal"

"What exactly is your goal?" Ichigo demanded angrily. "What does killing Rurichiyo have to do with it?"

"I have no reason to explain things to a dead man…" Amagai said narrowing his eyes. "All you need to know, is that the Kasumioji clan is far from innocent"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Hiyori inquired.

"Doesn't matter girl, neither one of you will around much longer for it to matter" Makoto said with a laugh. "So.. Shall we continue?"

"By all means…" Hiyori answered, hold her Zanpakuto up. "Bankai!…Tsuin Kobura-Tou"

As soon as her Zanpakuto and clothes changed slightly( she kept her usually track suit but had the black and red hand guards on her wrists that were connected to her twin Kusarigamas), Hiyori flash-stepped forward swinging one of her scythes at Makoto by the chain.

Makoto barely blocked her weapon with his bizarre 3 bladed Zanpakuto, called Reppu.

"Damn you, you little brat" Makoto said as he shoved Hiyori's Zanpakuto off of his. "You're an annoying mosquito!"

Hiyori retorted as she threw both her scythes, one after the other, at Makoto with one of them cutting deep into his shoulder. "At least I'm not over-compensating!"

"Oh yeah?.. Then I bet your boyfriend over there must be really small, given how big his released Zanpakuto is" Makoto yelled, before throwing his Zanpakuto, which spun like a saw blade at high speed as it flew at Hiyori.

Hiyori held onto the part of the chain connected to her wrist guards and spun one of her scythes in a high speed circle in front of her, to block Makoto's Zanpakuto. Though the two blades that spun in opposite directions grinded against each other frilly for a moment, Hiyori managed to push Makoto's weapon away from her.

"Not bad for a kid" Makoto remarked, as his weapon retuned to his hand. "But how long with your luck last?"

"Kid?.. Oh please, I'm probably old enough to be your grandmother" Hiyori said shaking her head. "Though if you were, I'd say you were a grandson that needed his ass kicked"

"Then come at me.. Grandma" Makoto said with a sneering grin as Hiyori launched her self at him with both Kusarigamas held tightly.

At the same time, Ichigo had resumed his fierce clash with Amagai not far away. Amagai was good, but he was surprised that Ichigo managed to keep an even pace with his fighting abilities against him despite only being a Soul Reaper for a short time.

"Your pretty good for a amateur, Ichigo Kurosaki" Amagai remarked, swinging his sword sideways, which Ichigo blocked with ease. "Tell you what… I'm willing to make you a deal… you agree to stay out of my way and go to the world of the living where you belong so I can go through with my plans of killing the head Captain… and I'll let you, your girlfriend and.. Heck even Rurichiyo can live"

"Kill the Head Captain?.. That's what this is all about?" Ichigo asked in confusion as he dodged Amagai's sword. "What does Rurichiyo have to do with trying to kill old man Yamamoto?"

"Tell you what… since you've done so well I'll let you in boy" Amagai said with a evil grin as he locked swords with Ichigo. "The know the strange swords that the first group of assassins had? ..they're called Bakkoto.. Rate and extremely powerful swords similar to a Zanpakuto"

"A Bakkoto?.. A sword that's like a Zanpakuto?.. You mean their alive?" Ichigo asked in shock. "How come I've never heard of the before now?"

"Yes they are alive.. Similar, yet different to a Zanpakuto.. I that a Zanpakuto works through symbiosis, leading to cooperation between it and it's wielder" Amagai said as Ichigo pushed off of him and got some distance. "A Bakkoto however is parasitical, feeding off of the soul of it's wielder and slowly killing him he longer he or she uses it until it takes over and destroys the host."

"That's… not insane… and nothing like a Zanpakuto!.. A Zanpakuto is a partner that you work with and trust.. Zangetsu is nothing like a Bakkoto!" Ichigo yelled, swinging his sword at Amagai multiple times and meeting with Amagai's sword each time, sending lots of sparks flying. "That still doesn't explain how the Kasumioji clan is involved"

"Fool.. Poor naive fool… the Kasumioji created the Bakkoto swords!" Amagai said caching Ichigo of guard and kicking him into a pillar in the garden. "If not for the Kasumioji clan creating the Bakkoto, then my father wouldn't have died... Wouldn't have been killed by that bastard head captain Yamamoto!"

"What?.. So let me get this all straight.. Your saying that Rurichiyo's clan created the Bakkoto.. And it some how led to the head captain killing your father?" Ichigo asked slightly confused and annoyed. "This is insane.. You drop all this crap at once and expect me and the readers to sympathize?.. Sheesh.. Maybe you should have come in during an earlier chapter"

"I couldn't… some guy name Johnny Bosch said I was the one was bootlegging his band's music CDs" Amagai said, groaning in annoyance. "I never even heard of a music band called.. What did he call it?.. Eyeshine?.. Who names a band that?.."

"Hey… I happened to think that band is good and it's leader singer Johnny Yong Bosch is pretty good" Ichigo said, in annoyance. "In case.. You suddenly bringing up some father being killed thing doesn't excuse you trying to kill an innocent little girl.. Even if her family did something, it doesn't mean you should blame her"

"There's no such thing as a true innocent in either your world or the Soul Society.. Everyone's guilty of doing something bad, Ichigo Kurosaki" Amagai said bitterly. "You , me.. Everyone… the thing is.. Some of us do bad things willingly.. Because it's the only way we can live"

Ichigo didn't respond with words, instead he charged forward, putting Amagai on the defensive with brutal strikes with his Zanpakuto.

"Your just an insane asshole, that's trying justify murder!" Ichigo roared, as he pushed his spiritual energy into his sword and managed to cut into Amagai in multiple places. "I don't care what your reason is, I'm not going to stand here and let you get your way!"

"_This boy… how can he be so strong?" _Amagai thought to himself as Ichigo pushed him back. _"Do I really have to resort to that?"_

"You leave me no choice" Amagai said as he pulled put a small weapons resembling a curved tuning fork. " This is MY Bakkoto.. The weapon that I will end you with, before I use it to kill Yamamoto…"

With that, Amagai held it upside down and tapped it against his Zanpakuto. This caused a tendril to shoot from the hilt of the small weapon, wrapping around his arm, covering it up to his mid-shoulder, before creating a claw where his hand was. A energy like blade shot out of the claw and finally a segmented tail appendage formed, hanging from behind him that was attached to the back of the black armor covering his arm.

"What the fuck?" Ichigo asked with raised eyebrows. "That thing is your Bakkoto?.."

"Yes it is.. And thanks to my strong will, I am in control of it and will use it to it's fullest to achieve my dream" Amagai said, pointing his new weapon at Ichigo. "Let's see how well you do against me now"

"Fine.. I'll still stop you" Ichigo said, flaring his spiritual pressure around him. "That's all there is to it"

End of chapter 54

To be continued….


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 55

"_What the fuck?" Ichigo asked with raised eyebrows. "That thing is your Bakkoto?.."_

"_Yes it is.. And thanks to my strong will, I am in control of it and will use it to it's fullest to achieve my dream" Amagai said, pointing his new weapon at Ichigo. "Let's see how well you do against me now"_

"_Fine.. I'll still stop you" Ichigo said, flaring his spiritual pressure around him. "That's all there is to it"_

"By all means.. I welcome you to try" Amagai stated while narrowing his eyes. "It's your death kid"

"Not likely.. I can't afford to die here" Ichigo said before shooting forward and slamming his Zanpakuto at Amagai.

Amagai yanked up his energy-like sword and Ichigo smashed into it, with them both pushing each other for a moment before they both jumped back. Amagai then stabbed his sword into the ground and a strange pulse of green energy shot out in all directions

Ichigo's Zanpakuto felt strange after he the wave struck it against and Amagai's seemed to notice that Ichigo felt it.

"So you noticed did you?" Amagai said, grinning.

"What did you do to my Zanpakuto?" Ichigo demanded.

"My Bakkoto has the ability to cut off a Soul Reaper's spiritual energy.. Making his or her Zanpakuto useless" Amagai said with a slight laugh. "So you see.. It was over for you from the moment you stood against me"

"No.. I won't give up.. Until I stopped you!" Ichigo yelled out angrily.

Amagai stood there shaking his head at first until he saw spiritual energy flare around Ichigo's Zanpakuto.

"_What?.. How is that possible?" _Amagai thought, confused. _"His spiritual energy should be cut off from his weapon.."_

With a swipe of his hand, Ichigo's hollow mask appeared increasing his spiritual energy by a large amount.

"A hollow mask?" Amagai said confused. "What.. What are you?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, the captain of squad 5 and the one who's going to stop you, Amagai" Ichigo said with his echoed voice. "One way or another.. It's over for you"

"I don't know the story behind that mask, and frankly I don't care.. But if anyone is being defeated here, it's you, not me" Amagai said racing forward.

"Too slow" was all Ichigo said, before disappearing from view as Amagai tried slashing forward but only met air.

Each time Amagai attempted to hit Ichigo, he couldn't manage to hit him and instead was met with Ichigo's sword slashing and cutting into him in various places.

"_Why.. Why can't I hit him?!" _Amagai yelled in his mind. _"I should be the faster and more powerful one with my Bakkoto .. And that mask.. What's with that hollow mask? Just what hell is he?"_

"What the hell are you!?" Amagai yelled as he wildly swung his weapon at Ichigo who easily blocked it. "How are you this strong.. And what's with that mask?!"

"I don't have time to deal with you much longer" Ichigo replied, powering up his sword. "This needs to end now"

"_His arm.. Get rid of it and you can stop him with out killing him, Ichigo" _Ichigo's hollow said, to him. _"It's the fastest way"_

"No.. I won't let it end now!" Amagai yelled out. "I'll kill you and then the head captain! I'll- AHHHHH!"

Ichigo disappeared and seemed to be everywhere at once, making it impossible fro Amagai to tell who was the real Ichigo and which ones were just illusions. Amagai was beyond pissed and knew if he swung randomly he'd only waste energy.

"Like I said.." Ichigo said very seriously as he appeared behind Amagai. "This ends now"

Before he could react, Ichigo swung his Zanpakuto upward and sliced off Amagai's right arm below his elbow in a spray of blood.

Just as he did, Captain Soifon appeared in a flash-step near them, landing in a crouch. "Ichigo"

"Soifon?" Ichigo said, confused why she was there as Amagai collapsed forward. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story but .. I see you took care of the traitor, Amagai" Soifon said looking at the bleeding Captain Amagai. "..good job"

"Thanks… wait.. How did you know he was a traitor already?" Ichigo asked her, as he undid his Bankai.

"Like I said, a long story.. Hold on a sec" Soifon said as she snapped her finger and 2 stealth force members landed near her. "Alert squad 4 that a man needs immediate medical attention.. And then I want him moved to a jail cell per the head captain's orders"

"Head captain's orders?" Ichigo asked in confusion. "Mind explain what's going on here?"

"Of course… from the moment that Amagai requested to take the captain's test, several of us, including myself and captain's Kyoraku and Ukitake felt something off about Amagai" Soifon said, as several members of the squad 4 medical relief squad arrived on scene. "He seemed to come out of nowhere with his 3rd seat, and even though it was turned down when we wanted to officially investigate him, several of us did so anyway against orders"

"He said his father was killed by the head captain" Ichigo replied, looking over as the medical squad healed his wounds with members of the stealth force standing by with swords drawn and aimed at him in case he tried anything. "He planned on killing the head captain as well as destroying the Kasumioji clan"

"We had a feeling it was something like that.. Or at least we had a rough idea anyways" Soifon said nodding. "Finding out everything was difficult due to not being able to officially investigate due to it heavily involving a noble clan"

"Yeah… wait.. Rurichiyo.. I still have to save her from Kumoi!" Ichigo said about to dash away until Soifon stopped him.

"No need.. We took care of him before I arrive here" Soifon said taking her hand off his shoulder. "I told the stealth force members to bring her here as soon as I gave the word it was clear.. They'll be here momentarily"

"Ichigo!" A girl's voice yelled out alerting to that Rurichiyo was there along with a slightly haggard Hiyori.

"Rurichiyo.. You ok?" Ichigo asked walking over to her and Hiyori. "And .. Your shoulder.. What to your arm Hiyori?"

"It's no big deal.. Got my arm dislocated and had to pop it back into joint" Hiyori said as if it was common thing. "Hurt like hell when I popped it back in thought, that's for sure.."

"Yeah.. I can imagine.. Just glad your both ok overall though" Ichigo said as he placed his Zanpakuto on his back. "I want time off after this"

"I second that" Hiyori said, rubbing her sore shoulder. "So what happens now?"

"Not sure.. Soifon?" Ichigo asked, looking over at the squad two captain. "Any ideas about that?"

"We're sealing away Amagai's Reishi as we speak and we'll be taking Amagai to the maggot's nest prison in a few moments" Soifon replied. "Beyond that.. Any remaining assassin's working for Kumoi we'll arrested, and the Kasumioji heir will no doubt go back to her home along side those two over there"

"Those two? Who are you talking about?" Ichigo said before following the direction of Soifon's pointing finger. "Oh.. I see"

""Kenryu! Enryu!" Rurichiyo shouted happily as she ran over to them. "I am glad you are both ok"

"As we are glad that you are ok, Lady Rurichiyo" Kenryu said with a smile. "..and I guess it's good your ok as well Captain Kurosaki"

"Jeeze.. don't hurt yourself with your compliments there" Ichigo replied, slightly sarcastically. "Orihime, Rukia, Chad, Tatsuki, Uryu.. You all ok?"

"We're still kicking" Tatsuki said with a half grin as she punched one fist into to her other, open hand. "What about you?"

"I'm fine.. More or less anyways" Ichigo replied. " Orihime.. Can you heal Hiyori's shoulder?"

"Of course, Ichigo" Orihime said smiling as usual. "But then I'm taking care of your injuries.. And no buts"

"Uh sure.." Ichigo said a bit surprised as he leaned over to Tatsuki. "When did Orihime get so...direct and confident?"

"Not sure.. Maybe spending a lot of time with Hiyori?" Tatsuki suggested, shrugging her shoulders. "A nice change in my opinion though"

Ichigo nodded as he crossed him arms. "Can't argue with that I guess"

Soon enough, Orihime finished healing Hiyori and worked on Ichigo before Amagai was hauled off to the equivalent of jail and Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki and Uryu were allowed to stay in the Soul Society for a day before they had to return to the world of the living. Even though Ichigo and Hiyori would have gotten in trouble for involving themselves in a clan matter, they received no punishment due to Amagai forcing the 13 Court Guard Squad's involvement already. Ichigo decided to day the next day off to recover with Hiyori and maybe take her on a date, considering he knew she wanted one, but was usually to stubborn to ask him.

Ichigo had just gotten back to his barracks and found his third seat Akira, doing paper work in his office. Ichigo decided to sneak up on the girl to see if her could get any reaction from her for once and after flash stepping behind her, he spoke in a low voice " Why are you in my seat, miss third seat?"

To Ichigo's surprise the girl sprang up and fell back onto her as with wide eyes.

"What.. What the hell?!" Akira asked as she breathed hard from the shock. "When did you get back?"

"Just now.. Though I'm the surprised on here.. You seem quite lively compared to normal" Ichigo said as he helped the girl stand up. "I'm not complaining about it, but it's quite noticeable"

"Oh.. umm yes.. I went to Captain Unohana and she changed my medicine" Akira replied as she calmed down. "Strangely, even though she found records of it, she couldn't remember prescribing me the medicine I've been on for so long. .she couldn't explain it"

"That is strange…any chance Aisne was involved somehow?" Ichigo asked folding his arms.

"Aizen?.. What would he have to gain from keeping me lethargic with medication?" Akira asked with a confused expression. "I'm just a third seat.. No one of real importance...mostly average grades in the academy, took the longest of my class to gain my true Zanpakuto.. The only thing I really excelled in was Kido but I didn't have access to my full spiritual energy due as aside effect of my medication"

"So your good at Kido?" Ichigo asked, as he set Zangetsu down. "Would teach me about it.. I need to learn it better then what little I've been taught"

"Y-you want me to teach you?" Akira asked in surprise. "Wouldn't someone like Rukia Kuchiki or Kisuke Urahara or even Kisuke's assistant Tessai be better suited to that?"

"Maybe.. But I already owe Kisuke and Tessai for helping me as much as they already do and I'm sure Rukia has her own duties in squad 13" Ichigo reasoned. "I mean, if you don't want to, I can try to find someone else"

"Wait!.. It's .. it's not that I don't want to train you, it's just I figured you'd want kido exert to do that" Akira said, calming down. "Bu-but if you want me to help teach you Kido.. I can try sir.. I mean Ichigo.. I'm sure that Lieutenant Sarugaki would also be somewhat of a help as well"

"I wouldn't count on that.." Hiyori said as she walked inside the room "I know a fair amount of kido, but I'm hardly an expert.. I usually rely on pushing as much spiritual energy in a kido spell as I can to use it.. I'm terrible on knowing the right amount on spiritual energy to into a Kido due to my high-level of spiritual energy"

"I've gotten better at controlling my spiritual energy.. I'll probably be ok" Ichigo said, thinking about it. "Maybe she can teach you too"

Hiyori nodded as she set her Zanpakuto next to Ichigo's. "I guess.. Though Shinji better not find out about this.. Or I'll have to kick his ass for making fun of me for having my third seat teach me something I should have mastered long before coming a Lieutenant"

"Yeah. You probably should have" Ichigo said without thinking only to get punched in his stomach by Hiyori and had him bending over in pain. "Damn…That fucking hurt"

"Good" Hiyori said grinning evilly. "I hope it did, mister I couldn't even sense Reishi when it was right in front of him for some long"

"In any case.. We'll worry about training the day after tomorrow.. You take tonight off, Akira" Ichigo said, glaring playfully at Hiyori. "I want some time to hang out with my friends before they go back to the world of the living tomorrow night"

"Um.. Right.. Thank you sir" Akira said as she left the office. "See you tomorrow"

"So.. What to do now?" Ichigo asked leaning back in his chair. "A nap?.. Some dinner?"

"I can think of something better" Hiyori said as she climbed onto his lap, facing him. "Unless the poor baby is too tired"

"This "poor baby" will show you how tired I am" Ichigo said smiling back at her. "You'll be the tired one when we're done"

"I can't wait to see you prove this to me" Hiyori said licking her lips as he hopped off of him and led him to their bed. "Let's se how much stamina you have.. Shall we?"

"Gladly" Ichigo said lifting her up into his arms with his hands holding her up by clutching her ass. "Hope you can keep up"

Ichigo set Hiyori on the bed as he started to take off the top of his uniform. "Let's find out"

bleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleachbleach

The next morning Ichigo woke up and stretched his arms as he looked over at his naked girlfriend who was sprawled out on their bed and snoring like trucker. He remember how he had freaked out when he first saw Yoruichi naked and now here he was complete unfazed by seeing Hiyori naked.

He smirked and gently shook her awake, dodging a story punch from the half asleep girl who woke up after moment.

"Morning beautiful" Ichigo said, with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"After last night? You bet I did" Hiyori said grinning. "Though I will say you me and this bed all stink with sweat.. Among other things.. We both need showers big time"

"Agreed, you wanna go first?" Ichigo asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Might be faster to shower together.." Hiyori said, seemingly unashamed about being naked as she crawled over and sat next to him. "Unless your prude"

"Hardly" Ichigo smirked back. " If we are then, let's get going.. I wanna see the others and don't want the showing up here with us naked and smelling of sex.. One whiff of this room and anyone could tell what had gone on"

"I guess that's true" Ichigo said simply as they both headed to the shower.

A short time later, they finished and got dressed and only minutes afterward the door to Ichigo's quarters slid open and Tatsuki walked in with Chad, Orihime, and Uryu behind her.

"Yo, Ichigo.. Hiyori.. Morning" Tatsuki said, with a grin.

"Hey Tatsuki, Chad, Orihime and Uryu.. Morning" Ichigo replied back while Hiyori nodded to them with a smirk.

"So.. What is there to do around this place?" Tatsuki asked, folding her arms.

"This isn't a freaking amusement park you know" Ichigo said sighing. " Sorry we don't have rides fro you to enjoy"

"I know it's not, you smart ass" Tatsuki retorted. "But I didn't hear you throwing out any suggestions…we just wanna know about this place "

"Yeah but It's not like I had time to th-" Ichigo started before being interrupted by a hell butterfly that few in his face startling him slightly much to Tatsuki's and Hiyori's amusement. "What the heck does this thing want Hiyori?"

"Hmm.. Looks like you and me are suppose to visit/observe the Soul Reaper Academy today... Remember when we missed out on it the first time they wanted us there?" Hiyori said after reading the hell butterfly's message. "No way of getting out of it thing time though"

"Uh.. Thought it was are day off" Ichigo grumbled. "Then again.. You guys wanted to learn more about the Soul Society, right?.. Guess you get your chance"

"Yeah.. Cause it's a real blast" Hiyori stated sarcastically. "I've visited the academy for observations a twice before times, both with Urahara and Captain Hikifune"

"What exactly are we suppose to do there?" Ichigo asked, as he slid his Zanpakuto onto his back, over top of his Captain's Haori.

"Well.. We're suppose to observe the students in the various classes, make note of any new additions we want to incorporate into our squad, maybe do some demonstrations for the students and look for any students that stand out to us as recruits for our squad" Hiyori answered fairly quickly. "It's pretty basic, but it's one of the student's favorite things… When a captain and Lieutenant visit the academy that is"

"Recruits for your squad?.. You mean outside of new students who graduate normally?" Tatsuki asked, figuring the basics out on her own.

"Yeah.. If we say… See a student that has a lot of potential and want him or her on our squad we can either talk to them and save them a seated position on the squad or let them graduate early if they're good enough"

"Hey.. Could I enroll in this Soul Reaper Academy thing?" Tatsuki asked as Orihime stood next to her.

"Enroll?.. Um.. I'm not sure…you're a Soul Reaper so you should be able to.. But your also alive and live primarily in the world of the living" Hiyori replied after thinking about it for a moment. "The only way I could see it working is if you stayed here in the Soul Society long term for classes"

Tatsuki nodded to Hiyori before then asking "How long do classes last?"

"Hmm. Generally the full curriculum lasts about 6 years.. Though if your really good you can graduated a lot sooner.." Hiyori answered her folding her arms. " For example…The snake eyed traitor Ichimaru completed it in 1 year…Kaien Shiba completed it in two years and I think Hitsugaya of squad 10 graduated pretty quickly before becoming one the youngest Captains .. Before Ichigo here came along that is"

"So basically…. if I wanted to enroll, I'd have to live here for up to six years?" Tatsuki asked, scrunching her face up a little. "That sucks.. I mean I do wanna enter but.. I think my parents would notice me being gone for 6 years"

"Why not wait till you graduate high school then?" Ichigo asked, coming up with an idea. "Instead of collage.. You can go here, to the Academy"

"Hmm.. Guess that's an option" Tatsuki commented. "So let's get the academy… I wanna check it out"

"By all means.. We might as well" Ichigo said sighing. "Lead the way Hiyori"

"We have to leave our Zanpakutos here, Ichigo" Hiyori said, putting her hands on her hips. "Unless there's an emergency or were on a mission, carrying your Zanpakuto in the Seireitei is technically considered against the law"

"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked making a confused look on his face.

"Unfortunately" Hiyori said bitterly. "I'm not thrilled about it either"

Ichigo reluctantly put his Zanpakuto down and let Hiyori lead him, Tatsuki, Chad, Orihime and Uryu to the Soul Reaper Academy giant front doors.

"The message said that the student's would all be present to get a glimpse of you since Captains don't visit too often due to them usually being busy" Hiyori said as they approved and found a Teacher from the Academy waiting fort them.

"Greetings Captain Kurosaki.. And Lieutenant Sarugaki.. Welcome to the Soul Reaper Academy" the large man said to them. "I am Gengoro Onabara, the head teacher of class1 and the one responsible fro first year students only"

"um.. Nice to meetcha" Ichigo replied, nodding to the man. "So are you are guide?"

"Yes.. I will be your guide" Gengoro stated, glancing behind Ichigo. "Are your.. Friends?.. Joining you?"

"Yeah.. That's not a problem right?" Ichigo asked folding his arms.

"I suppose in this instance I can make an exception, considering who they are" Gengoro stated, turning around. "Shall we get going? The students are no doubt getting restless to see you"

"Oh.. And one more thing" Gengoro said stopping briefly. "I trust there won't be any incidences this time, Lieutenant Sarugaki?"

"Incidences?" Ichigo asked looking at his short girlfriend.

Hiyori got a irritated look on her face as she glanced to one side but didn't answer.

"While studying at the academy, Miss Sarugaki had a habit of getting into arguments and fights with others quite easily.." Gengoro stated, with a annoyed look on is face. "Those incidents continued the several times she visited with both Captain Hikifune and former Captain Kisuke Urahara as well,.. You should set a example as a Lieutenant"

"I'm not promising jack" Hiyori said, frowning. "If someone says something to me.. They're getting sent to squad 4"

"Just just go already" Uryu said slightly annoyed at his companions.

Gengoro seemed to agree and opened the large gates of the school, revealing a long path with excited students fighting to see Ichigo and the others as they prepared to walk inside.

"Which captain is it?"

"Not sure, Gengoro sensei in front of them"

"I see orange hair.. That means its.."

"Captain Kurosaki right?.. The one who was a substitute Soul Reaper and became a captain"

"Yeah.. The one who helped revealed that traitor Aizen and defeated that Jin Kariya guy"

"And he defeated the one who turned all the Zanpakuto's against us.. That vampire looking guy"

"He so cute…I wonder if he's single?"

"I hope so"

"Me too"

Ichigo tried to ignore the various comments as he and his friends walked down the path behind Gengoro.

One particular girl in the crowd yelled to Ichigo. "Can I have your autograph?!"

"Get lost" Hiyori said, glaring at the girl. "He's taken"

"No asked you.. Are you his sister or something?" The girl yelled back.

"What was that?" Hiyori asked flaring her spiritual pressure enough to make the girl and several people near her fall to there knees. "I'm the Lieutenant of Squad 5 and Ichigo's girlfriend.. So know your place little girl"

"Enough, Hiyori" Ichigo said, putting his hand on her shoulder "Your spirit energy is going to hurt her"

"Fine" Hiyori said grumbling. " But just let this be a lesson to you, missy"

"…" The girl sat there on her knees with sweat running down her face. "S-sor-sorry"

"Please follow me" Gengoro said, clearly unfazed by Hiyori's outburst. "Please refrain from taking things to far"

A short time later, Gengoro was at the front of his class of first years with Ichigo and Hiyori standing by him while he rest of Ichigo's friends were watching from the back.

"As your all aware, Captain Kurosaki and Liutentant Sarugaki here are visiting the Soul Reaper Academy today and I expect you all to be on your best behavior" Gengoro said to the students, somewhat sternly. "They will be view you today and it's not impossible that you could one day end up serving on their squad, so be sure to show them that you are worthy of being part of the 13 Court Guard squads"

The students all replied with "Yes sensei" as Gengoro looked around at them.

"Good. Now.. lets begin our lessons" Gengoro stated nodding to them.

The next 35 minutes seem to mostly drag on for Ichigo.. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in a lot of what was being discussed about Soul Society history, it was just that a lot of it seemed to be only half talked about because it was asssume that msot of the students already knew a lot about the place they had lived in for a long time. Before long, the class had ended and the students, along with Ichigo and his group, went on to the next class. This time though, Ichigo was looking forward to the class, as it was the class on flash-step.

"Can captain Ichigo demonstrate his flash-step?" one of the females students asked.

""Not sure what the point would be.. You can only see the beginning and end of flash-step" Ichigo said putting his hands in the pockets of his captain's jacket. " I can move pretty fast in Shikai.. But my top speed requires my Bankai and my "mask"

"Perhapes Captain can demonstrate flash-step at the end of the school day" The teacher suggested to everyone. "But for now you will all learn the basics of flash-step"

"So much for something fun" Ichigo muttered.

Most of the rest of the day was also fairly boring to Ichigo but then came Zanjutsu practice and Ichigo paid attention to see how the first time students would fair.

"Remember to keep and eye out for any gifted recruits, Captain Kurosaki" Hiyori said, as the students all got wooden practice swords. "The real purpose of this visit is to look for recruits for out squad after all.. Not to learn crap"

"Right" Ichigo said looking around as the teacher showed the students some basic strike to do with their swords.

Ichigo's eye was caught by one student who was struggling with using his sword, so he walked over to him while Hiyori watched in curiosity. The student was fairly thin, with short dark brown hair and was dressed in a standard male academy uniform and didn't seem to be doing well with his sword swings.

"Hey you" Ichigo said, appearing behind the student. "Looks like having some problems there"

The student looked in surprise that a captain was talking to him, but nodded nonetheless. "Y-yes sir, Captain"

"Relax..don't be so uptight" Ichigo said, folding his arms. "Your problem is that you don't have enough confidence in your own abilites and it's affecting your swordplay"

"W-well I that is.." The student said nervously. "I .. I actually wanna be a healer.. Part of the squad 4 medical barracks.. Not a fighter"

"Doesn't matter if you wanna be a master fighter or a doctor.." Ichigo said, sternly at first. "Learning to use a sword is essential for a lot of reasons"

"Even for a healer, captain?" The student asked, in surprise.

"Yes.. Even for a healer" Ichigo repelid. "Tell me.. What's the primary role of squad 4?"

"Treating the injured and sick, sir" The young student answered.

"Right.. But tell me something.." Ichig osaid walking around to the front of him. "Let's say that you were the only member left in a area while their were several injured Soul Reapers that needed you"

"But.. Their were several enemies there as well" Ichigo followed up. "In this scenerio there no way to cal for help right away,.. You completely on your own.. If the enemies kill you , then the injured would die as well.. What would happened then?"

The student, lowered his head slightly. "I.. I don't know sir"

"You need to fight.. And protect those injured people" Ichigo said narrowing his eyes. "You need to learn to set aside your fears and push yourself past your limits.. Learning to fight well with a Zanpakuto wil set you apart from the other members of squad 4 and help you achieve your goal of helping people"

"I .. I understand but.. How do I get better at wielding a sword?" the student asked, looking at Ichigo.

"By practicing… and by finding you resolve" Ichigo said with a slight smile. "If you can find your resolve.. Then nothing can deter you from your goals.. So think carefully about what it is you want.. And make sure that you won't let anything stop you.. Keep walking forward.. Got it?"

"Um.. Right!" The kid said nodding.

"Find you resolve.. To protect someone or something you care about.. Use that resolve to fuel your training" Ichigo said before walking away to rejoin Hiyori. "If you have that resolve.. Then you'll achieve that goal of yours"

"Nice job there, Sensei" Tatsuki said snickering after Ichigo rejoined her and the others.

"Ehh, bite me" Ichigo said, crossing his arms.

"Your suppose to look for potential recruits for OUR squad.. Not help out squad 4" Hiyori said with a slight grin. "Try looking for students that might wanna serve in OUR squad from now on. I told you that's the true purpose of this visit"

"Yeah, Yeah. I know" Ichigo replied, sighing. "You look for people too"

"Yeah… I'll get right on that" Hiyori stated sarcastically.

Tatsuki, looked around at the students and rolled her eyes. "I bet I could ace these classes"

"Maybe you'll find out someday" Ichigo said, looking around.

After the Zanjutsu class ended there were several other classes commenced followed by lunch, where Ichigo and his friends sat at the academy's cafeteria.

"So.. What do you think of the academy, Ichigo?" Chad asked, as he ate.

"Uh.. I forgot you were in this story… You ..hardly ever speak" Ichigo said, staring at his friend. "But uh.. It's ok I guess.. I'm looking forward to Kido class.. I wanna learn Kido"

"Given how much Spiritual energy you have.. Combined with how little control you have over it.. You'd probably end up destroying the entire school if you attemped any Kido" Uryu said as he took as sip of a drink.

"Oh.. You came to the Soul Soceity too Uryu?" Ichigo asked, raising any eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm here too! And you know it!" Uryu replied angrily. "Can't you take things seriously?"

"In all seriousness though, Uryu is right Ichigo" Chad said, looking over at his friend. "With as much spiritual energy as you have, you should probably only practice Kido in an unpopulated area"

"Yeah, that's what I planned on doing" Ichigo replied. "Don't worry Chad, I'll be careful"

As soon as they ate, the group followed the students to the class Ichigo was most curious about… Kido classes.

"Aright tghen students. And honored guests.. Please listen carefully" The teacher, who was named Hideyoshi Shio stated looking around. "Kido.. Can be either very usefull or very dangerous.. Depending on if you follow the rules of using it.. So be very aware of them in order to not harm yourself or a ally"

"As we know, Kido is powerfull spells that use Reishi to perform everything from healing, to protective barriers to damaging blasts of energy and everything in between" Hideyoshi said, as he walked slowly and kept his eyes on the students. "The type of kido spell available depends on which of the three kido classes you use.. And they are Bakuto, which utilizes barriers and seals for defensive purposes.. Hado, which utilizes offenisve, and destructive spells to injury your enemy and Kaido.. Which his more commenly unnamed and just referred to as healing kido… they are obviously used to healing the injured"

"Also.. Ther are several places in the Seireitei that specifically work wit certain types of Kido as their specialty" Hideyoshi continued. "You may have heard of them.. But in case you haven't, they are the Kido corps ,that specializes in both destructive barriers spells and the medical section of Squad 4 which of course deals with healing Kido… if you you find yourself particularly good at a certain type of Kido, you might wish to work at one of thoese places to put your abilities to work for everyone's good"

Hideyoshi cleared his throat and continued again. "Let's see.. oh yes.. performing Kido spells requires channeling and focusing your spritural energy as you say the correct incantation.. And remember that each incantation is unique and will only work with specific spells.. Unless you learn to master Kido and can create your own spells my mixing them together.. But that takes years of practice and should never be attempted unless your certified as master kido user.. Doing before so, could be dangerous"

"Lieutenant Sarugaki.. Would you be willing to demonstrate a kido spell using an incantaion?"Hideyoshi asked look her way. "If it's not too much trouble that is"

"Sigh.. Fine" Hiyori said, taking a few steps forward and facing targets that had been set up in the area. "Let's see..something that won't blow up the place.. Ah.. Ruler, the mask of flesh and blood, all thing I tnhe universe ,that which names all.. In the name of truth and temperance, sink your claws into the walls of sinless dreams… Hado 33.. Sokatsui"

A stream of blue energy shot out of Hiyori's fingertips and destroyed the target in small explosion that had the students clapping.

"As you can see. That is how to properly use a kido spell with an incarnation.." Hideyoshi, said with a small smile. "But if you work hard you can do spells wiout the incantation as well though they will be less powerfull then doing the spell without the chant"

Without being asked, and knowing the instructor would bug her anyways, Hiyori fired off another spell. "Hado 31, Shakkaho"

"Incredible.." stated on student to her friend.

"Yeah.. But I wanna see Captain Kurosaki do a spell.. I bet a captain can do an even more impressive spell" The student's friend replied back.

"Hate to get your hopes up, but my Kido abilities are practically nonexistent" Ichigo said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "Besides.. With my spirit energy.. I'd probably end up destrying the entire school with my luck"

"Um.. Let's _not_ test that theory" The instructor quickly said in a nervous tone. "Now then.. We'll begin by learning to channel your spiritual envery into specific parts of your body.. Just like you'll learn when you start learning flash step"

"You know.. It could come in handy..me using kido that's destructive.. Especialy against Aizen when we face him" Ichigo said, thinking hard. "I shoud start elarning Kido as soon as possible.. Wanna be my teacher Hiyori?"

"Yeah right.. Do I look like a kido master too you?" Hiyori asked scrunching her face up. " You might wanna ask someone else.. Like Kukaku or Hat and Clogs.. Or maybe Tessai.. He was the leader of the Kido Corps before fleeing the Soul Society afterall"

"Good point…" Ichigo acknowledged. "Maybe after we're done here I can go ask Kukaku"

Captain Ichigo…" Said a female voice from nearby. "I have a message to deliver to you"

"What?.. A message?.. From who?" Ichigo asked, confused as he saw a female messenger crouching near him holding a note in her hand. "What?! Ru..Guys.. Meet me at the Squad 4 medical baracks"

Ichigo flash-stepped off, leaving Ichigo's friedns and the students all confused by his leave.

"Sorry.. We gotta go.. But um.. We'll either come back later or tomorrow" Hiyori said. before flash-stepping away as well.

Ichigo reappeared at the squad 4 barracks where Byakuya was standing by Captain Unohana.

"Captain Unohana.. Byakuya.. is she.. Is Rukai ok?" Ichigo asked with nervousness lacing his voice. "The note said she was injured and in the hospital"

"Ichigo Kurosaki" Byakuya said in his usual stuck up tone. " She is fine.. Or rather she will be soon"

"Miss Kuchiki apparently attemped to usea technique that she wasn't ready for with her Zanpakuto and is now in a coma" Unohana replied, adding to Byakuya's staement. "I'm confident she will wake sooner rather hen later.. I apologize for not informing you sooner, but I wanted I knew things have been hectic for you lately, and felt waking till today was best.."

"So that's what got you worked up" Hiyori said, walking near Ichigo. "Can me and the idiot go see her for moment?"

"Yes, of course… it is said that talking to someone in a coma is helpful and may make them wake up sooner" Unohana said, before Byakua could say anything. " Only two people at a time though please and try to limit your visit so other people who wish to see her may do so"

"Thanks, Captain Unohana" Ichigo said as he and Hiyori waked into Rukia's room. "I'm sure she'll be fine Byakuya.. Rukia's strong"

"…" Byakuya simply gave a slight nod, before leaving the area.

"So.. You just wanted to get some attention, so you decide to fake a coma on us midget" Ichigo said, trying to lighten the sullen atomosphere. "Don't you get enough waiting on at the Kuchiki mansion?"

"Don't worry.. She'll be awake before we know it" Hiyori said , putting her hands on her hips. ".. I'll have to remember to let her kick your ass for being a worry wart as soon as she does too"

"Thanks.. Cause I'm sure she'd wait for your permission" Ichigo said with a half smirk. "I bet Orihime will be pretty worried too.. I wonder I we should let her know about this at all.."

Hiyori raised an eyebrow at Ichigo. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't know Orihime as long as some of my friends but Tatsuki has and I've known Tatsuek all my life.." Ichigo explained to his girlfriend. "Between the short time I've known Orihime and from what Tatsuki's told me, Orihime's bound to get overly emotuionall about something like this...so it might be best not to let her know"

"Maybe.. But you realize if she does find out after the fact, she'll probably be mad at everyone who did know for keeping her out of the loop" Hiyori replied to him. "But I'll leave it up to you to decide what to do… that way you'll be the only one she gets mad at"

"Aren't you the generous one" Ichigo said sarcastically. "Either way.. I think it's the right decision and if she wants to get mad at me for it, then I'll take that anger.. It'll be better then getting her upset about this"

"Anyways.. Make sure you wake up soon midget" Ichigo, briefly patting the unconscious girl on her head. "We'll visit again later.. And.. Sorry you got injured like this.. I know I wasn't directly involved, but still.. I'm not fond of my friends being injured like this"

"Don't start the moping shit, Ichigo..let's just get going.." Hiyoir said, pullnig him t othe door. "Let's go see Kukakau about Kido training.. And take your mind off this"

"Sigh.. Fine" Ichigo admited defeat as he let Hiyori drag him outthe door.

After saying good bye to Captain Unohana, he and Hiyori ran into the rest of Ichigo friends at the entrence to the hospital.

"Ichigo!.. We followed you here as soon as we could!" Orihime said, obviously out of breath. "What happened? Is someone hurt?"

"What?. Uh no.. it just a mix up thanks to a new squad member that just joined Squad 4" Ichigo said after moment. "He's lucky it got us out of being stuck at the academy or I'd be more pissed"

"Oh.. Wel that's good" Orihime said, smiling. "Fro a while there I was woried oen of our friends here I the Soul Society was hurt or something"

"Don't worry" Hiyori lied skillfully while crossing her arms. "Everythings good now"

"So.. Now what?" Uryu asked, despite being supscious of Ichigo and Hiyori staements.

"Well.. I was going to go to Kukaku see if she'll help me train in Kido" Ichigo replied, lgancing at Hioyori. "Why don't you all coem with me.. I'm sure Ganju and Kukaku wouldn't mind seeing everyone again"

Orihime nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds good"

"You guys go ahead…. Me and Hiyoiri will catch up ian few minutes.." Ichigo stated. "We gotta go let our third seat know where we'll be if an emergencey happens"

The others agreed and turned to leave, but Ichigo stopped Tatsuki and asked her to stay a second with him and Hiyori.

Reluctently Ichigo explained he situation about Rukia to Tatsuki and asked her to help make sure Orihime didn't find out.

"Sigh…I don't like the idea of lying to Orihime.. But.. But I agree that letting her know wouldn't be a good idea" Tatsuki said, letting her shoudlers slump. " But if she does find out somehow.. it's on your shoudlers Ichigo.. Got it?"

Ichigo answered her after a minute. "Got it"

"Well.. Let's get going.." Hiyori said, after an awkward moment of silence.

Ichigo and Tatuski agreed and let Tatsuki catch up with the others on their way to Kukaku while Ichigo and Hiyori made a quick stop at their squad barracks. Akira agreed to keep an eye on things while Ichigo and Hiyori were training and with that, they caught up with their friends.

"Well well.. I thought I sensed the spiritual energy of a certain knuckledhead" Kukaku said as she appeared outside her house, waiting for Ichigo and his friends. "Just couldn't go long without me huh?.. I can't blame you really.. I am pretty fucking great afterall"

"More like pretty fucking nuts" Ichigo said, shaking his head.

"You do remember how good my hearing is right?" Kukaku said, flash stepping next to Ichigo. "..so you wanna repeat that for me?"

"Uh.. No... no, that's ok Kukaku" Ichigo said nervously. "I'm good"

"Good to hear it" Kukaku laughed, slapping Ichigo's back hard enough to make him stumble. "So what do you and your friends want, brat?"

"Well.. I was uh.. Wondering if you'd teach me to use Kido proficiently enough to face Aizen and his forces in the upcoming battles" Ichigo asked after regaining his balance.

Kukaku gave Ichigo a look of slight surprise. "Teach you to use Kido?"

Ichigo nodded to her. "Yeah.. Kido"

"Hmm… not sure you can well enough" Kukaku replied, much to Ichigo's confusion.

"Uh.. Why the hell not?!" Ichigo demanded.

Kukaku sighed. "Look.. Learning and using Kido requires a good amouth of Reishi.. and good control over that energy.. You may have a lots of the required Sprit energy.. But how great is your control over it?"

"uh.. It's decent.." Ichigo said while everyone sweat dropped. "It's better then it was when I first started at least! I wanna learn Kido.. And I'll put everything into.. just like with everything else I do!"

"Hmm.. Well.. Guess we won't know if you can do it or not till we try" Kukaku declared with a grin after seeing Ichigo's determination. "Let's get started.. Who knows.. Maybe learning kido will help your Reishi control grow"

"Koganehiko!.. Shiroganehiko!.." Kukaku yelled out, looking at the roof. "We need a training grounds fro me to teach Ichigo Kido.. You know who to contact"

Koganehiko eyes went wide. "You don't mean.."

Shiroganehiko nodded. "She does mean.. them"

"Them?.. Who's them?" Uryu asked, looking at the giant men.

"None of your business, four eyes" Kukaku replied as she opened the front enterence to her house. "Everyone but Ichigo can go on inside.. I'll be there to join you in little while.. That includes you to shorty"

"Why me?" Hiyori demanded narrowing her eyes.

"Because this is family business" Kukaku stated simply. "If Ichigo wants to tell you all about it later, then he can, but for right now.. This is strictly Shiba clan related stuff.. You won't die without humping his leg for a little while after all"

Hiyori gave Kuakau the middle finger as she briefly hugged Ichigo and ran after the others.

"Ok then… I got contacted by a certain someone in the world of the living who told you the entire truth involving your dad.. Or at least as much as she knew" Kukaku said, with a rare seriously look on her face. "You know that your dad is really my uncle and that you're my cousin.. Though I'll let you call me your aunt due to age differences"

"You mean Ikumi" Ichigo said to her.

"Yeah.. I kind of forgot she was in the world of the living" Kukau admited. "Our family is a lot bigger then you know.. And on top of that, was once one of the five noble clans in the Soul Soceity…"

"A noble clan?.. Like Byakuya?" Ichigo asked reyes slightly wide. "Please tell me I don't have to pretend to be stuck up at some snooty get togethers"

"Ha!.. Yeah right.. Our clan is nothing like the Kuchuki clan.." Kukakau said, resting her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Our clan has never been stuck up.. We've always been different then the rest.. We belive in acting normal despite our status.. Or rather as normal as we get by our own standards of what's normal"

"In anycase though. After my brother Kaien died , some things happened.." Kukaku said in a sad tone. "Your father was next in line to lead our clan.. But he was too young, inexperienced and had no real interest in being clan leader.. He preferred to drink, relax and chase girls around.. He was real model of high class alright. That's why he stayed leader of a branch of the Shiba clan while the main clan had no real leader.. It was run by a sorta jumbled together mix of the wisest members "

Ichigo gave a look of embarrassment mixed with understanding. "I should be surprised.. But I'm not sadly"

"Yeah well.. Things were rocky while uncle Isshin was in charge and then when he disappeared into the world of the living, things went from rocky to just plain shit" Kukaku continued. "Him abandoning his post as clan leader was just the excuse that some of the other noble clans had beeen waiting for to clense the nobility of our more relaxed, likeable, helpful and kind ways…"

"What did they do?"

"Sigh.. They stripped our clan of our nobel status.. One of the heads of our clan got drunk and went after the head of the Kuchiki clan and it all turned into a major fucking mess" Kukaku said shaking her head. "The clan all left to a private pocket dimension to be away from everyone …besides me and Ganju who wanted to stay here.. That's one of the reasons we live out here away for everyone.. We were both really young so the Seireitei allowed us to live on the edge of the Rukon district"

"Wow.." Was all Ichigo could say.

"Yeah.. So you wanna meet the others and train in Kido?" Kukaku then asked nonchalantly.

"Uh.. What?" Ichigo asked, in shock. "Meet them?"

"Sure, why not?" Kukaku replied, shrugging." You wann trin in Kido and needa large area that can withstand all your spirit energy…so why not have that whiel meeting the rest of the family too.. three birds with one boulder right?"

"Isn't that two birds with one stone?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ehh.. Tomato, tomatto.. Go fuck yourself with a broom handel… We in the Shiba clan have our own way of doing things" Kukakau stated proudly. "Or did you think I was the only one in our family who was bat shit insane?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Uh… sadly no.. I didn't think that"

"Well.. Let's pay them a visit, shall we?" Kukaku asked grinning as she pulled out her sword from her back and stabbed it into the ground. "Oh.. And don't forget the old saying of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

"Uh.. Should I be worried?"

"Hmm.. Probably" Kuakau replied as a large Senkaimon opened. "Let's find out"

"Um.. Actually let's wait till next chapter" Ichigo said, stopping Kukaku.

Kukaku looked at Ichigo in confusion."Why?"

"Cause it was months ago that the last chapter was up and readers might have thought the series wasn't still being down at this point"

"Oh.. Good point" Kukakau agrred. "See you next time kids!"

"Ok and cut!"

"Good. I'm later for a date with a certain dark haired midget" Ichigo said, walking off set. "WAit. .you at home.. Just pretend you didn't read this.. Or um.. Hey look, it's Yoruichi and she's naked again!"

"Where?" Kakaku asked, looking around. "Damn.. I wanted to see if she was lying about that tattoo.. Oh well.. See you next chapter true believers"

To be continued..

Still.. Seriously,.. This is continuing.. Evil keebler elves be damned!.. Sorry about the Looooooooooooooong wait between chapters.. But . .thing came up and I got busy.. Got nothing else really important at the moment so I 'll try to get the next chapter out before the next century.. Please read, enjoy and review.. And ask any questions you have.. I'll do my best to answer


	57. Chapter 57

Hey everyone.. Wlecoem to the new chapter.. About time I think huh?.. to partially make up for this wait.. I did drawing of Hiyori with her Bankai weapons.. Penciled on paper, uploaded to my computer and inked/ colored with a basic mouse and microsft pain program.. Hope you like.. I put the link to my deviant art account where it's at if you wanna see it.. Just copy and paste it to your browser..

art/Hiyori-Bankai-508124125?ga_submit_new=10%253A1421668014

Chapter 56

Kukaku led Ichigo thorough the private Senkaimon and arrived at a field not far from a large ancient Japanese style estate similar to buildings in the Seireitei. It looked even bigger then the Kasumioji clan estate, though Ichigo wasn't hugely surprised as the Shiba clan had once been one the 5 Great Noble clans while the Kasumioji clan was relatively smaller, less important in the eyes of the Soul Society.

"So.. This is the Shiba clan estate?" Ichigo asked, as Kukaku walked up beside him.

"Sure is.. When The Shiba clan decided to leave the Seireitei.. They weren't willing to leave our home behind" Kukaku replied, nodding. "So they with them.. The entire fucking estate. Ha. Should have seen the looks on the faces of the other nobles that day"

"Wait…you mean they latterly took the entire estate!?.. They ripped it out of the ground?!" Ichigo exclaimed in shock.

"Yup…" Kukaku grinned widely. "We weren't about to let those cunt suckers at the Seireitei touch our family clan manor"

"Got that right, Kukaku" A female voice said, catching their attention. "So you finally came home, huh?"

Ichigo looked and saw a woman that appeared to be in her twenties standing there wearing a pink kimono with black ties that was opened to reveal her large bust. Her air of grace was somewhat ruined by the face that she had a pipe hanging out of her mouth and flip flops with a pink cartoon bunny heads on them.

"Uh. .hey there.. Aunt Rina" Kukaku said somewhat awkwardly. "How's it going?"

"Fine.. And you?.. Everything going well these past thirty-five years?" Rin asked while taking her pipe out of her mouth and blowing out smoke. "And who's this little punk?"

"Up yours" Ichigo said, frowning at her.

"This moron is Uncle Isshin's son, Ichigo" Kukaku said, slapping him in the back of his head.

"Isshin?.. You mean my lazy idiot son bred? with a woman?" Rina asked somewhat perplexed. "Huh.. She must have had a lot of patience to put up with him… so Ichigo?.. Hmm… you do have a resemblance to my nephew Kaien… and you seem to have the Shiba attitude… nice.."

"Uh.. Wait so… if you my dad's mom.. Then.." Ichigo reasoned trailing off. "YOUR MY GRANDMOTHER!?"

"What's with this kid? Isshin drop him on his head when he was baby?" Rina asked looking a Kukaku, who shrugged. "What?.. You gotta a problem with me?.."

"Uh no…. it's just.. You look way to young to be grandmother…" Ichigo stated, blinking rapidly. "I could probably tell some one you're my sister ad they'd believe me"

"Oh.. This one's quite the flatterer.. Not at all like his skirt chasing father.. Good to see he didn't inherit that" Rina said, grinning in manner that reminded Ichigo of Kukaku. "Well.. Come here.. Let me get a better look at you kid"

"Hmm.. If not for the orange hair.. You'd be a spitting image of my nephew Kaien.." Rina muttered grabbing Ichigo by his chin and turning his face. "So tell me. .who's the women that made Isshin finally settle down? Where's she at?"

"I uh.. She's" Ichigo trailed off.

"What?" Rina asked seeing Ichigo looking depressed. "What happened?"

"His mom was killed when he was little…" Kukaku explained. "She was killed by .. Grand Fisher"

"You mean to tell me that a daughter in law that I never even got to meet was killed by that shit sucking bastard hollow, Grand Fisher!?" Rina yelled flaring her spiritual energy around her. "If I ever see that thing.. I'm going to rip of his head with my bare hands…and piss down its open throat hole!"

"Now you see where I get my charming attitude from" Kukaku said, trying to cheer Ichigo up. "I wanted to let Ichigo use the clan training area to learn Kido.. And oh if it helps, Ichigo has two cute little sisters"

"Oh really? I have granddaughters too?" Rina asked with a grin. "Alright then.. You can use the training grounds… after you've met the rest of your family of course.. And tell me about my granddaughters too"

Rina led Ichigo and Kukaku to the clan estate and there were several people outside doing various things including a several young kids chasing each other around. Rina grabbed a of two of the kids chasing each other, a young boy with black/ purple and a girl with long black hair.

"Grandma?.. Why'd you do that for?" the boy asked struggling to get away. "Who's the carrot top?"

"This is Ichigo.. My son's son.. Which would make him your.. Let's say uncle to make things easier.." Rina answered, as the boy looked at Ichigo.

"Oh.. I have another uncle?.. Why does he have orange hair.. And a name meaning strawberry?" The boy asked rudely, making Ichigo's eye twitch.

"Hi, Uncle Ichigo!" The little girl said jumping at Ichigo. " Can I have a piggy back ride?"

"Uh,… sure?" Ichigo answered unsurely after barely catching the girl. "I guess…"

"Looks like he's fitting in pretty easily" Rina stated with a smile. "So tell me a little about him, Kukaku.. He seems like a private person"

"Yeah.. I've only known him for a short time but he's pretty driven person.. He'll go to any length to protect others, almost to an insane degree….Especially for his friends" Kukaku replied, watching Ichigo dash around using flash step with the little girl sitting on his shoulders yelling at him to go faster. "He's a pretty good kid overall though… quick on learning things too.. Would you believe he learned and mastered Bankai in under 3 days?.. He's like another Kaien.."

"3 days for Bankai and he's a captain? Wow… how long has he been out of the academy?" Rina asked, intrigued.

"Actually he never went there" Kukaku replied, getting a look of yeah right from Rina. "I know what you're thinking.. So I won't beat around the bush.. Here's what happened…"

"I see.. So he's technically alive.. Since Isshin hooked up with a human woman while using a Gigai.. Ichigo and his sisters are also human and Ichigo gained his powers by first getting a transfer from another Soul Reaper, but then got permanent powers because of his lineage" Rin restated, after Kukaku finished. "Complicated… which is a word that pretty much sums up the entire Shiba clan…he'll fit right in"

"Ichigo, come here" Rina hollered out. "Izumo.. You can play with your uncle later"

"Mmmm… ok.." Izumo said, disappointedly as Ichigo let her down. "We can play later right?"

"Uh.. Yeah. Sure, Izumo" Ichigo answered, patting the little girl on her head.

"Ok, Ichigo let's actually go inside shall we?" Rina said, with a grin.

"Ok everyone, family meeting!" Rina shouted, while releasing spiritual energy to everyone's attention. "Get's your asses in gear"

A few moments later a number of individuals, male and female, of various ages flashed stepped and ran into the room.

"Who's this guy?"

"He looks a lot like what's his name"

"You mean Kaien?"

"Yeah him"

"He's kind of cute, whoever he is"

""You think every guy is cute"

"Shut up morons…" Rina said, taking a puff of her pipe. " This here is Ichigo Kurosaki.. The son of my idiot son Isshin"

"Woah.. Isshin had a kid?"

"Didn't see that one coming"

"Wonder who the unlucky girl was?"

"She was either a saint or had real poor judgment of guys"

"Enough" Rina yelled at them, causing everyone to shut up. "His mother was taken from him by that bastard of bastards. Grand fisher.. So enough with that"

"Grand Fisher?. Oh man.. Sorry to hear that"

"Yeah. I lost a brother to him"

"I lost my first girlfriend to that monster"

"Hey, sorry I'm late.. I slept in" said a girl with brown hair in a messy pony tail that ran into the room. "So what'd I miss?.. And who's the hunk?"

"That's Rina's grandson.. So he's your cousin" A women said slapping the girl in the back of her head. "That means off limits"

"Cousin huh?.. I'd still do him" The girl said licking her lips. "Want me to show you around mr. hunk?"

"Misao.. Don't even think about it" Rina said glaring at her and making her shrink back. "Even think about trying to get some "alone time" with him, and you'll be moving to the Rukon district so fast I'll make flash step seem slow.. Got me?"

"..yes ma'am"

"Good.. Now then.. His father has told him next to nothing about the Shiba clan so make him feel welcome… The Shiba way" Rina aid with grin as she took a big puff of her pipe. "Remember Misao.. Keep damn your legs closed around him "

Ichigo sputtered slightly. "Geeze… why are the Shiba so brutally honest?"

"It's cause we don't give a shit about what people think about us" Said a tall guy that slapped his shoulder.

"Oh. Is that so?" Ichigo replied looking around. "Makes sense"

"Oh Ichigo.. You wanted to use the training grounds to practice Kido right?" Rina asked, looking at him and receiving a nod. "Well let's go then… I'll show the place.. Hope you can keep up"

With that Rina flash stepped away, forcing Ichigo to follow her despite not knowing his way around. Even so, he managed to keep up with her pretty easily.

"So… you kept up with me?.. Good.. If you hadn't, I'd be pretty disappointed" Rina said, smirking at him. " Welcome to the Shiba clan's private training fields.. It's big and has walls made of sekkiseki rock so practice won't damage anything outside the area.. what do you think?"

"Uh.. It's nice. I guess.. I've only seen a few training grounds before now.. So I don't have a lot of places to compare it to" Ichigo admitted . "Can I use it then?"

"Sure, go for it… it's yours to use by right" Rina said, nodding. "I'm assuming you'll want someone to teach you kido though, right?"

"Well… I guess I assumed that Kukaku would help train me" Ichigo said, scratching his head.

"Eh.. She's good but your great aunt Tama and your great uncle Kazu are considered masters of Kido…I suggest them instead" Rina stated, folding her arms. " You stretch or whatever till they arrive"

"Uh.. Sure.. Ok" Ichigo said stretching his arms out.

"Oh, and by the way.. Kukaku said you have a girlfriend named Hiyori, right?" Rin asked, getting a nod as a response. "Did you two do it yet?"

"Ah… what the hell kinds of question is that?!" Ichigo exclaimed out loud. "I swear my entire family are perverts!"

"Ha!.. Kukaku was right you are the opposite of my son and really easy to embarrass" Rina said, turning away. "We're going to have fun with you, kid"

Meanwhile, back at Kukaku's house in the Soul Society, Hiyori was beginning a training session with Orihime as well as Tatsuki who managed to get Hiyori to agree to train her as well.

"Come on Tatsuki.. Push more spirit energy into your legs as you flash step" Hiyori hollered, as she easily dodged Orihime's attack. "..and you… stop telegraphing your attacks so much Orihime"

"Sorry, I'm trying" Orihime exclaimed, as she spun her tonfa weapon around. "I've only used these a short time"

"Don't wanna hear your excuses.. I only wanna hear you saying yes ma'am and then doing it right for once " Hiyori said, swinging her practice wooden sword at Orihime, who barely managed to dodge it while counter attacking. "Better… keep up your reaction time and learn to counter faster"

"Aren't you going a bit harsh on her?" Tatsuki commented as she flash-stepped across the training area.

"Hardly.. If anything I'm being too soft on her" Hiyori replied, not bothering to look in Tatsuki's direction. "Same for you.. If you have time to talk then your not moving fast enough.. Keep practicing channeling your spiritual energy where you want it.. like into your legs in this instance"

"Yeah, yeah" Tatsuki said, glaring at Hiyori before continuing her flash-step sprints.

"Good… ok then… Orihime.. You need to put more energy.. More emotion into your attacks" Hiyori said, knocking one of Orihime's tonfas out of her hands. " If you wanna protect anyone you gotta stop being a pussy and use your anger to your advantage"

"That's easier said then done, Hiyori!" Orihime said back to her.

"Then… maybe I'll have to give you incentive" Hiyori said, jumping back. "hmm… I know.."

Hiyori flash-stepped out of sight momentarily and grabbed Tatsuki. A moment later Hiyori appeared I front of Orihime, holding her Zanpakuto up against Tatsuki's neck.

"Tatsuki!.. What .. What are you doing Hiyori!?" Orihime yelled out.

"If you can't manage to defeat me by using your anger.. your raw emotion.. Then your friend Tatsuki here… will die" Hiyori said, narrowing her eyes as they became black with brown irises. "I suggest you hurry.. before my sword slips"

Orihime froze, not sure what to say, do or think at that moment as her friend's life hung in the balance.

"You.. Wouldn't really hurt Tatsuki, I know this in my heart!" Orihime said after finally coming to her senses. "Because that would hurt Ichigo.. And you wouldn't hurt him!"

"Silly naive girl.." Hiyori said in a echoed voice. "You don't understand anything"

Hiyori reach down with her free hand, grabbed Tatsuki's arm and pulled on it making Tatsuki scream in pain.

"Tatsuki!" Orihime screamed out with wide eyes. "no.. no!.. NOOOOOOOO!"

Hiyori shook her head and gave one hard yank, pulling Tatsuki's arm out of it's socket as she screamed bloody murder.

"What do I do.. What do I do!?" Orihime muttered out loud over and over. "Am.. Am I really this weak?.. This pathetic?.. I asked to be trained.. To protect my friends.. But when one of my best friends need me most.. I can't do anything to help her"

_"Come on Orihime.. Don't give into despair that easily.." _Hiyori said in her mind. _"You need to find your resolve"_

"_I need to stand firm.. To protect Tatsuki.. I need to use my emotions.. Focus them.. Control them, not let them control me" _Orihime whispered in her mind. _"I need to protect Tatsuki!"_

Spiritual energy manifested around Orihime's tonfas as she narrowed her eyes at Hiyori. After a moment, Orihime yelled out sand swung her tonfaa at Hiyori as she ran forward at her and Tatsuki. Orihime swung one of them at Hiyori and a wave of spiritual energy flew off of the weapon, shooting towards her. Hiyori wasn't expecting such an outcome but managed to flash-step away only moments before nonetheless.

Orihime attack didn't connect but it was impressive all the same. But suing so much spiritual energy all at once, for the first time was draining and she fell to her knees before passing out. Hiyori then returned with a surprisingly uninjured Tatsuki who immediately went to Orihime to check on her.

"_Orihime.. That attack.. It was like Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou" _Hiyori thought to herself in amazement. _"There's no doubt your destiny is to become a Soul Reaper when you die someday.. So I wonder if this is part of the manifestation of those powers?.. As if you've been using your hairpins in place of a Zanpakuto and now you've learned to manifest those abilites further with an actual weapon?"_

Hiyori gave a slight grin at the sleeping Orihime. "Not bad at all Orihime"

Back in at the Shiba clan training fields, Ichigo was stretching while two people walked into the area, a man that highly resembled Isshin with spiky, raven black hair, that appeared dark purple in the light, dressed in a white and red robe with baggy black Hakama ( the divided pants like part, like a Soul Reaper wears). Next to him was slightly shorter, but still fairly tall woman with dark red hair done in a loose ponytail and dressed in a black sleeveless uniform that resembled some thing a member of the Stealth Force would wear.

"So.. You must be Ichigo" The women said, smiling. "Nice to finally meet my nephew in person"

"Um.. Hi there" Ichigo repaid nodding. "You must be.. Aunt Tama right?.. And you're my uncle Kazu?"

"That's right kid" Kazu said, grinning. "Nice to meet ya!"

"Calm down sweetie" Tama said, elbowing Kazu. " We told Rina that we'd train you in Kido… me and my husband here are both quite well know for using Kido"

"We are the most badassest at it around here" Kazu exclaimed, grinning at Ichigo in a way the instantly reminded him of his insane dad, Isshin.

"Bassassest isn't a word Kazu" Tama said, shaking her head, but still smiling. "We should probably start training though"

"Um.. Aunt Tama?" Ichigo asked. "Are you really a member of the Shiba clan?"

"Hmm?.. Of course I am" Tama replied gently. "What makes you believe I wouldn't be?"

"Well.. You're a lot nicer then most of the women in the Shiba Clan I've met.. You don't have that.. Sarcastic edge to you.." Ichigo stated. "You.. Well.. Kind of remind me of my mother.. She was really gentle and happy all the time too.. Before she died"

"I see.. Then you picked up on that huh?" Tama said, walking closer to him and gently putting her hand on his head. "I married into the Shiba clan, which is probably why I'm not as .. Boisterous as some of the others.. As for reminding me of your mother.. I'll happily take that as a compliment"

"If your mom was anything like my wonderful Tama here.. Then you were one lucky kid" Kazu said smiling.

"Ok then.. Let's focus on happier stuff here gentlemen…" Tama said, getting their attention. "Let's begin you training…. By seeing what kind of kido your better suited for"

Ichigo folded his arms. "What kind I'm suit for?"

"Yes.. If you were better suited for healing kido for example, you might wanna go to squad 4's medical relief unit to help out…. The kind your suit for, will better let us know what to teach you" Tama said, smiling. "We'll start with Hado…. since Kukaku mentioned that your Zanpakuto's main attack is a highly destructive wave of energy, this make the most sense"

"Um ok.. Sure so.. What do I do?" Ichigo asked nodding.

"First put your Zanpakuto down.. You won't need that for these lessons" Tama instructed. "Now then.. Since you already know how to channel your spiritual energy into your Zanpakuto this won't be too difficult for you"

"How about giving him strong level kido spells.. He might not be able to do low level ones" Kazu suggested.

"Good idea… let's start with… Hado number 63" Tama said, after 4thninking carefully. "Let's try it without the incantation though.. So it won't be as destructive"

Tama instructed Ichigo to face a wooden dummy on the training field near him while Tama and Kazu flash stepped to a safe distance.

"Focus your spiritual energy into hands as you point them at the target.." Tama instructed. "Then say the name of the spell, which is Raikoho… Try whenever your ready, Ichigo"

Ichigo concentrated and pretended his hands were his Zanpakuto that he was putting his spiritual energy into. He breathe d easy and poured his spiritual energy into his hands.

"Hado 63.. Raikoho" Ichigo yelled out though not much happened.

"Come on, try again.. Just concentrate" Tama said, encouragingly.

Ichigo nodded and tried again and this time.. He produced an enormous ball of yellow lightning like energy that shot out at the target he was aiming at. The target as well as the ground around it exploded creating a huge crater around it.,

"Damn.. Now that's a Raikoho!" Kazu grinned. "That kido spell is a specialty of the Shiba clan.. So it's no real surprise that your so good at it kid"

"Thanks.. What the next one?" Ichigo asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Next one?.. Why don't you do that spell a few more times first, till you can do it on command" Kazu answered him, laughing slightly.

"Fine.." Ichigo sighed, before he began practicing some more.

"He's got a lot of skill, huh?" Kazu comment to his wife. "Reminds me of Kaien"

"I agree.. He's picking up Kido pretty fast" Tama agreed, smiling. "He has a lot of raw skill.. It's no surprise he achieved Bankai in less then three days"

"Ok.. Let's get him started on a few more spells, shall we?" Kazu suggested after few minutes.

Over the next hour Tama and Kazu taught Ichigo a number of both Hado and Bakudo type Kido spells. As they figure he had no talent for healing spells, but he was good at the other two types.. Barrier Hado spells and destructive Bakudo spells.

"Ok Ichigo.. We've been training for a while now and you've done well so why don't we take a break?" Tama suggested smiling at Ichigo.

"A break?.. But I can keep going" Ichigo insisted determinedly.

"Maybe. But it's not like you have to learn every spell at once.." Tama replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Most Soul Reapers learn kido slowly over several years and then take their time to master it if their good at it"

"But I don't have years.. I assume you know about Aizen.." Ichigo asked darkly. "I have to be ready to stop him.. I can't afford to take my time"

"Ichigo,.. No once can deny that the threat Sosuke Aizen represents is great but pushing yourself will only burn you out" Tama said, sighing.

"But I nee-"

"You will take a break right now…. Got me?" Tama said, giving a glare on par with Kukaku.

"Uh.. Sure.. A break.. Good idea" Ichigo said, sweating and thinking how much she was like Rina and Kukaku.

"Sheesh.. I thought she said she was a Shiba by marriage?.. Could have fooled me" Ichigo mumbled out.

"I heard that sweetie" Tama said, smiling from a ways away from him. "I have excellent hearing"

"Uh.. Noted" Ichigo said as Kazu walked over to him.

Kazu grinned at Ichigo "Hahaha… she's a trip huh?.. She may not be a Shiba by blood, but after spending time around her mother In law, Rina.. She's gotten use to acting like one"

Ichigo nodded ass she sat on the ground. "Yeah, I got that impression…so… Wait.. That means your .. My dad's brother?"

"Last I checked, yeah.. We gotta along pretty well when we were younger.." Kazu stated, reminiscing. "Not so much with our sister though.. You haven't met her yet though.."

Ichigo looked up at his uncle. "Uh no, not yet…what's she like?"

Kazu sat down next to Ichigo before answering. "Depends on who you ask… to me she was terror growing up.. To Isshin?.. The best big sister in the world… she's always favored him for some reason"

"How come?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No idea really.. I was born first.. But she acted like a second mom to him from the day he was born" Kazu stated after a moment.

"Oh ok.. Guess I'll see how she's like when I meet her" Ichigo replied. "So.. How long till I can practice some more?"

"Mmm.. give it a few more minutes till Tama thinks your ready to train again" Kazu replied, glancing back at his wife.

"Good.. I need to push myself.. To get stronger… to defeat Aizen.. And protect my friends and loved ones" Ichigo said fiercely with determination in his eyes.

"He.. You got a good head on your shoulders kid" Kazu commented with smile. "Glad to see you didn't inherit my brother's strange nature"

"Can we train again now?" Ichigo asked, concentrating on Kido.

"Sigh. You gotta one track mind, but sure… go for it" Kazu said, standing up. "I'll go grab Rina and have her get Tama to.. Well..… I'll make up something"

"Thanks" Ichigo said with a nod.

Kazu nodded back and before he went over to Tama, he handed Ichigo a piece of paper. said "While I'm gone.. Work on these Kido spells.. Starting with Hado 73... Soren Sokatsui"

Ichigo took the paper and looked at it. "Right"

Ichigo begin practice as soon as Kazu took Tam away, though they returned a short time later with Kukaku with them.

"Kukaku?" Ichigo stated as he finished casting another kido spell. "What are you doing here?"

"No offense to aunt Tama here but she's too soft and this keeps up, you won't be able to learn a bunch of kido before you head back to the Soul Society" Kukaku said, despite Tama glaring at her. "So let's kick this shit in to gear Kukaku style… shall we?"

Ichigo nodded with grin and over the next few days he trained hard to learn as many kido spells as he could and Tama and Kazu, who didn't know Ichigo's potential to learn so fast, were quite impressed.

It was several days later when Ichigo finally return to the Soul Society and was met in an unexpected way. As soon as he exited the private Senkaimon with Kukaku, Orihime, who was standing with the there waiting for him, jumping on him crying.

"Orihime?!" Ichigo exclaimed as he hugged him and cried. "What the hell is going on?"

"We had a .. situation while you were gone.. But couldn't get a hold of you" Hiyori said, crossing her arms. "We need to talk"

Hiyori explained that Tatsuki and Chad had returned to the world of the living for school but on route, they were attacked by a strange man wearing a white uniform that was eerily similar to a Soul Reaper's shihakusho and had black hair as well as strange bone-like piece covering part of his head. This had been seen thanks to security footage from inside the passage way between the Soul Society and the World of the living and revealed that Chad tried to fight him but was defeated by the strange man who then grabbed Tatsuki and pulled her with him through a portal, before disappearing.

"Hiyori… we need to talk for second" Ichigo said after hearing the story. "To figure out what to do. We'll be right back."

"Right" Hiyori said, nodding and following Ichigo away from the others.

As soon as they were away from the others, Ichigo said "Ok.. So they took Tatsuki huh?.. I didn't expect Aizen to take her of all people.."

"I know.. We planned on him trying to kidnap Orihime" Hiyori said in agreement. " He could force her to use her powers to affect the Hogyoku… But what use would have for Tatsuki?"

"Not sure…maybe who ever Aizen sent to capture Orihime thought she'd be there and after seeing Chad and Tatsuki decided it would be bad to go back empty handed" Ichigo suggested. " Maybe he'll use her as a hostage to lure me to him to keep me out of the fight when he makes his move soon"

"Maybe.. You know... We could use this to out advantage if we play our cards right" Hiyori said, with a sly grin.

"Say what?" Ichigo replied in confusion.

"Think about it.. The rat bastard Aizen is expecting us to go and rescue Tatsuki, and since you learn best through battles and no doubt we would face a lot of opposing there, you could train by fighting Aizen's forces" Hiyori stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Your strong enough and fast enough to get to Aizen now.. But you'll need every advantage you can get to defeat him.. So why not?"

"I don't know.." Ichigo said thinking. "what about the head captain.. It's not like he's going to say "sure, go for it, bring me back a souvenir" or something"

Hiyori looked Ichigo with a strange look on her face. "Since when do you care what old giant eyebrows says?"

"I don't, but you and I are official Soul Reapers and in charge of a squad" Ichigo replied, scrunching his eyebrows. "I don't want our squad getting hassled because of us…besides…dealing with him is a pain in the ass and he's already dealt with my crap several times now… I don't wanna end up with them trying to arrest me for some crap"

"So what do you suggest?" Hiyori asked dryly. "Not go?"

"Hell no.. we're going to save Tatsuki from that asshole Aizen.. But we need to do it in a way.. That will.. Wait I got it… I know how we can go without the old man being pissed at us"

"Oh?.. Do tell" Hiyori asked, before looking at the you the reader. "You out there… no listening in to your plan.. In face .. HEY MR AUTHOR GUY!.. Do a scene skip to after the plan is implemented!"

"_Yeah, yeah… You don't have to yell Hiyori"_

It was the next day and Ichigo and Hiyori were in the world of the living with their fellow Vizards and Urahara.

"I gotta say… you and Hiyori _love_ to walk a dangerous line, don't you?… making up an excuse that one of your fellow Vizards was also captured and as a Vizard representative you needed to go help them out.." Urahara said as he sat in front of him. "Oh well.. There's not like there's a lot you can do beside this in order to rescue your friend, Miss Arisawa"

"Yeah.. Backed into wall so to speak" Ichigo agreed. "How much longer till Tessai has the portal to this Hueco Mundo open?"

"Not much longer Ichigo, relax.. I highly doubt that Aizen will do anything to her.. If he indeed wants to keep you preoccupied there so you won't be here when he acts…. and this is the most likely scenario" Urahara stated as Jinta walked into the room.

"Hey,… captain carrot top" Jinta said knowing it would piss off Ichigo. "Tessai's got the Garganta open for you.. So you better hurry"

"Thanks brat" Ichigo said, roughly rubbing his hair as he and the other want past.

After heading down to the basement area, Ichigo and Hiyori prepared to head through the gate.

"Hold on a sec, Ichigo" Uryu said stepping forward. "I'm coming with you two.. This place will be dangerous .. Even for you.. The more people come with you, the better off it will be.. Beside.. I consider miss Arisawa a friend as well"

Ichigo nodded at him. "Fine.. Your fairly stubborn so I assumed you'd want to join us"

"Maybe I should go with them, too" Lisa said, stepping away from Shinji and the other Vizards. "I've had nothing to do lately anyways.. And killing some of Aizen's forces now will make things easier for the rest of you when he finally shows up"

"For real?.. Is that really a good idea, Lisa?" Shinji asked looking bored as usual.

"Why not?.. I already explained my reasons in my last sentence" Lisa said, folding her arms. "Besides.. It's not like you my mother or something"

"Don't you mean father?" Shinji asked, annoyed.

"No... you more of a mother hen type" Lisa grinned at him.

"I agree" Ichigo said, nodding.

"Me too" Hiyori said, grinning

Shinji frowned at them. "I hate all of you"

"Let's just get going.. The sooner we leave the better" Ichigo said walking up to the portal. "Hiyori, Lisa, Uryu?.. You ready?"

"Ready and willing to kick some ass" Lisa said, with a grin. "Oh and Shinji?.. Your not allowed to "use" my magazines while I'm gone"

"I've never "used" your magazines.. You're the pervert of the group" Shinji yelled out at as they were about to disappeared through the portal. "Hey.. Don't ignore me!.. Get back here!"

"Ha.. Well you all have fun.. I need to get back to work on the project for the head captain" Urahara said, walking over to the ladder leading upstairs.

"Seriously guys, I don't read Lisa's porn magazines" Shinji said to the others. "Guys?.. Damn you Lisa"

Chad ascended the ladder leading "Ichigo, Hiyori!, Uryu.. Wait for me"

"Chad?" Ichigo exclaimed. "You were injured… shouldn't you be resting?"

"No.. I'm fine.. And ready to help you rescue Tatsuki" Chad said in his usual tone.

"Ehh.. Your as stubborn as you are strong.." Ichigo sighed. "Fine.. Come on.."

With that… Ichigo, Hiyori, Uryu, Lisa and Chad leapt through the Garganta and headed to Hueco Mundo.

A short travel later, the five arrive in Hueco Mundo, and Ichigo looked around a bit disappointed.

"So… this is Hueco Mundo?" Ichigo asked, looking around the strange desert area. "It's not like I imagined it"

"What exactly did you imagine it would look like?.. An amusement park?" Lisa asked sarcastically.

Ichigo shrugged at Lisa. "I don't know.. But I didn't expect it to be a grey, endless desert with a few strange looking trees.. Why would Aizen wanna come here and use it for his base of operations?"

"Who knows… the guy was weird back when he was a lieutenant from the few times I saw him and he's even stranger now.. Trying to understand that asshole is pointless" Hiyori answered, before Lisa could.

"Um.. Not to interrupt… but do we even know where to find Aizen's base here?" Uryu asked, adjusting his glasses.

Lisa glared at Hiyori before answering Uryu. "If I had to guess… I'd say that giant Palace in the distance there"

"That seems long ways away from us" Ichigo commented. "I wonder how long it will take to get there from here?"

"Tee faster we get moving, the quicker we'll have the answer to the question, won't we?" Lisa stated, resting her Zanpakuto on her shoulder. "So let's get our thumbs out of our asses and start running already"

"I don't think we wanna hear about your sexual preferences Lisa" Hiyori said, as they stared running through the sand.

"Please.. I heard all about the meeting you showed up to with.. Panties" Lisa said grinning at the blushing Ichigo and Hiyori.

"Can we stop with that please?" Uryu asked I annoyed tone. "Not only is it.. Inappropriate.. But we have more important things to deal with at the moment"

Ichigo looked where Uryu had meant, and saw two strange looking Hollows chasing what appeared to be a little girl.

Before the others could say anything, Ichigo flash stepped away , grabbed up the little girl under his arm and flash stepped out of the way of the 2 hollows.

"I don't know what you two want with little girl…" Ichigo said, still holding her with one hand while wielding his Zanpakuto with the other. "But if you three want to hurt her.. You'll have to go through me"

"Giving that this is Hueco Mundo… I highly doubt that little girl is normal" Uryu commented.

"Huh?.. Their not after me tsilly.. We're playing endless tag! " The girl said grinning. "And they're my brothers!"

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed with strange look on his face. "Did you say these two are your brothers?"

"Yup!" the little girl said happily. "You wanna play too?.. You can all play too! And there's just one rule… when you tag Nel.. Be sure to hit Nel.. Though Nel will gladly accept being punched, or spanked or spit on too.. Nel's a masochist"

"Uh….. What the hell have you been teaching her?!" Ichigo exclaimed out loud. "Don't be teaching her about being masochist!"

"Since when do hollows have siblings?" Hiyori commented raising an eyebrow.

"Well if you wanna get technical, we're not really her brothers.. We're Arrancar that just found her one day lying on the ground and decide to be her brothers, don't ya know" The larger of the two hollows said. "Oh and we should introduce ourselves.. I'm Donochakka .. Dontcha know.. And that's Pesche… and oh the girl one under your arm is Nel"

"Nel.. Donochakka and Pesche?.. Ok…. Sure" Ichigo said setting Nel down. "What exactly are you three doing here?"

"We told you.. We're playing endless tag!" Nel said laughing. "What about you mista.. Mista.. What's your name?"

"huh? Oh. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki.. The one with the glasses is Uryu, the girl with glasses is Lisa, the tall guy is Chad and this blond girl here is my girlfriend Hiyori" Ichigo replied to Nel. "And to answer your question.. Sorry, we can't play tag. We're here to rescue our friend.. And we're pretty sure she's in that palace in the distance"

"Palace?.. Oh you must mean Los Noches, Itsygo!" Nel replied looking at the palace. "We can take you there on Bawabawa!… BAWABAWA!"

As soon as she spoke a huge snake like hollow came bursting out of the sand and came to rest in front of them.

"Bawabawa!" Nel cried, jumping on it. "Come on Itsygo! And Itsygo's friends!"

"Are we really going to ride on a giant ..worm thing?" Uryu asked looking at his friends.

"Unless you wanna walk who knows how long to get there" Lisa commented.

"It might be safe to go .. If these three know the area well, then we can get there sooner without falling into any traps" Chad said speaking up for the first time.

"Woah, the giant man spoke, dontcha know!" Donochakka shouted in shock.

"Yeah… Chad is on the silent side most of the time" Ichigo said as they all hopped up onto Bawabawa's head.

"Alwight!" Nel shouted jumped onto Ichigo's lap and making herself at home

"Uh…. What do you think your doing?" Hiyori asked, looking at Nel.

"Nel is sitting.. Just like you are" Nel replied looking forward. "Ok Bawabawa… Onward!.. To Los Noches!"

Hiyori grinded her teeth but Uryu put his hand on her shoulder. "Excuse me Hiyori. But clearly that girl Nel has the mental capacity of child.. I doubt her sitting on Ichigo's lap is anything more then her thinking it would be a good place to sit.. From child's perspective anyways"

"Who asked you" Hiyori said shrugging his hand off.

"You know my thought process is correct, right Chad?" Uryu asked, looking to his left.

"Yeah.. It makes since.. She's acting like I imagine Ichigo's sisters did when they were younger" Chad replied, glancing at Uryu. "But then again, Hiyori gets that way when any female clings to Ichigo… you can't really blame her"

U'm Bel" Ichigo asked, looking down at the tiny girl sitting on his lap as Bawabawa "swam" through the sand. "You mentioned you three were Arrancar right?.. the Arrancar we've seen before didn't have the same feeling as you do.. It's hard to explain.. But your spiritual pressure feels different"

"Huh?. Oh that's because the Arrancar that went to the world of the living not to long ago were Numeros.." Nel explained to them. "Numeros are combat experts but their not that strong.. Their similar to a Menos Grande"

"Not strong?.. I beg to differ on that" Ichigo stated to Nel. "I have first hand experiences dealing with Grimmjow.. And he was definitely not weak"

Nel looked up at Ichigo above her. "Gwimjow is an Espada.. He's stronger then a Numeros is"

"Yeah, you should already know that though, dontcha know" Donochakka sated with a laugh.. "Although.. You seem very strange for Arrancars"

"Yeah.. You don't have a mask.. And your wearing black clothes.. Like a ….Soul… Reaper.." Nel said, trailing off as she added up the facts. "…SOUL REAPER!"

"If we go to Los Noches .. We'll be killed !" Nel cried. "Foe being traitors!"

Before Ichigo or the other could respond a enormous Hollow with grey skin and giant forearms rose up it of the sand in front of them. The group quickly got off of Bawabawa and stood before the giant creature.

"Halt intruders…. You will be killed for entering Hueco Mundo.." the giant hollow said with a menacing voice. "And you three Arrancar will be killed for betraying our Lord Aizen"

"Shove it, you bastard " Ichigo said, pulling his Zanpakuto off of his back. "Getsuga… TENSHOU!"

Ichigo unleashed a giant wave of energy that tore the giant hollow's head in two and he grinned at the easy victory. But only moments later the hollow put it's head back together and the group all looked confused.

Ichigo looked perplex as he lowered Zangetsu. "What the hell?"

"You can't kill him that easily, Itsygo" Nel yelled, hiding behind him. "He's made of sand.. There's endless sand here.."

"Damn it.. Well need a way to destroy him" Hiyori yelled a she pulled out her Zanpakuto. "Does this thing have any weakness?"

"Well.. Water.. But there's not water in Hueco Mundo's deserts" Nel answered, looking over at Hiyori.

"We need to pull back, none of us have water based attacks" Uryu said, as he started firing arrows at the Hollow.

The hollow shot huge globs of sand at them, and they did their best to dodge the attacks.

"Wait.. Water?.. Know what might work.." Ichigo said ,looking over at Uryu. "Can you give me cover for a minute?"

Of course Ichigo" Chad said, as he called on he armored arm and fire d off an El Directo attack.

"Alright" Ichigo said, jumping back and concentrating as his friends redirected the attention of the hollow. Hado 64... Hyoga Seiran!"

Ichigo shot an enormous wave of ice at the hollow that was frozen in a giant block of ice and shattered in to millions of pieces moments later.

"Ichigo.. Was that one of the Kido spells you learned?" Uryu asked as he lowered his bow.

Ichigo nodded with a grin. "Yeah.. Pretty effective I'd say huh?"

"Well that was unexpected" Lisa commented as she slid her Zanpakuto into it's sheathe.

"Wow!.. That was so cool, Itsygo!" Nel yelled jump and grabbing onto the sleeve of his Shihakusho and swing back and forth on it. "You were all like Grrr! And then you went Wooosh! And they he went smashy smash !"

"Um.. Yeah.. I guess that's how it was" Ichigo said as he watched Nel swing back and forth on his sleeve. "Can we get back to traveling to Los Noches now?"

They agreed and got back onto Bawabawa who too them through the desert and eventually reach the palace of Los Noches.

"So this is Los Noches.. It's a lot bigger in person" Hiyori commented, looking up at it. Looks like shit.. Just like Aizen.. A perfect match"

"Yeah.. Nel?.. Part of me thinks it would be safer for you to stay here sicne Aizne will try and destroy you if your spotted with us.." Ichigo stated, looking at the short girl that had climbed onto his shoudler. "But then again… if you stay out here on your own an Aizen sends someone after you.. You won't be able to face that threat.. So.. It might be safer if you came with us… expect Bawabawa.. He's too big to come with us"

"Really? Nel and Don and Pesche can come with you?!" Nel exclaimed with joy. "Nel and Itsygo are going to have so much fun!"

Somehow, I don't think this is going to be any fun" Lisa said, shaknig het head. "Chad?.. If you do the honor, would you make us a door inside?"

Chad nodded punched large hole in the wall using his armored fist and they all jumped through and ended up in a long hallway.

"Looks like we go that way" Ichigo said, pointing to the only direction that wasn't a dead end.

The group made their way down the hall and eventually came to a fork in the road that spilt the hall into several paths

"So.. Which path do we take?" Ichigo asked ,looking at the others.

"The most logical decision is for us to splt up in order to cover the most ground and find Tatsuki faster" Uryu said, glancing at the others.

"Sigh.. Guess he's right but since this palce is dangerous and there are quite a few of us here we should split up into twos" Ichigo said folding his arms. "I'll go with Hiyori.. Uryu you can go with. Um.. Pesche, Chad you can go with Donochakka-"

"I'll go on my own.. No one else left anyways .. And besides… I'll be more then fine on my own" Lisa said, speaking up and intruding Ichigo.

"Oh.. Ok.. Well, good luck Lisa" Ichigo sadi, nodding to her.

"What about Nel, Itsygo?" Nel said tearing up like a child. "Are you going to leave Nel behind?"

"What?.. Of course not.. I just assumed you'd be coming with me and Hiyori, so I didn't see any reason to state it" Ichigo said before Nel launched herself at Ichigo with tears and snot flying. "Ahh! get your snot off me!"

"Nel's happy that Itsygo didn't leave Nel behind like piece of rotten garbage!" Nel said whipngi her nose on Ichigos uniform deispte him looking disgusted by it. "Because Nel doubted Itsygo, Itsygo can punch Nel as hard as Itysgo can or kick Nel inot wall like ball.. Or even paddle Nel's ass still it's raw"

"You two seriously need to stop teaching her this kind of behavior !" Ichigo yelled, glaring at Peshe and Donochakko. "I'm not going to hit you or kick you and definetly not spank you Nel.. That's not how people treat their friends Nel"

Nel pouted as she climbed up onto Ichigo shoulder "That's no fair.. that's how Nel gets off! Nel's a masochist remmeber?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response" Ichigo said shaknig his head. "We ready to move out?. Be careful everyone.. We all came here together. And we're all leaving together...with Tatsuki"

Everyone else nodded to him and with that they all dashed down the various paths they had chosen.

It wasn't long before Ichigo, Hiyori and Nel were confronted by a strange Arrancar that was standing the at end of the long hallway. He has slicked back, black hair, think goatee and mustache, and was dressed in unusual variation of the Arrancar outfit that had white fringes hand off of his arms, a red sash around his waist and shoulder pads. What was left of his mask looked like a plate with a horn on either side.

"So you're the intruders that Aizen spoke of?" The man said, rubbing his mustache. " Two little Niñas and a Niño?.. How pathetic"

"Pathetic?.. Are you an arrancar… theone who's going to try and stop us from advancing?" Ichigo asked putting his hand on the handel of his Zanpakuto.

"I am.. I am called by the name Dordoni Alessandoro Del Socaccio…" The man said with a pose right out of powr rangers. "The one hundred and third Privaron Espada"

"Privaron Espada?.. Are you weaker then a menos Grenade?" Ichigo asked, tilting his head at the man.

"Hahaha… it seems the little Niño knows nothing.. Privaron Espada are special you see.." Dordoni said with a grin. "Us Espeada with three digit numers for our rank.. Are formerly regular Espada.. And Espada.. Are the top of the food chin around here, little Niño… granted I as on the bottom level of Espada, but I am still very strong compared to you and these two little Niñas"

Ichigo looked more annoyed the n scared, as he pulled his Zanpakuto off his back and poured his spiritual energy into it. "Getsuga… TENSHOU!"

The enormous wave of white/ blue colored energy errupted from this sword as he swung it, hiting the Espada pointblank, and knocknig him through several walls in an explosion of dust, plaster and chunks of wall.

"What a moron…" Ichigo commented, lowering his sword. "All he did was talk.. And was he really suppose to be an Espada?.. I remember Grimmjow giving me way more trouble then this"

"Ohohoho… that was a very impressive first attack, little Niño.." Dordoni said emerging from the rubble. "It would be rude of me not to return the favor… Bala!"

He shot a red colored blast of energy at Ichigo, Hiyori and Nel and before Ichigo or Hiyori could block it, Nel jumped off of Ichigo's shoulder and soloed the Bala, before spitting it back out. However, the Bala Nel spit out was larger, denser and more destructive then the attack that Dordoni had original fired.

The attack hit the shocked Dordoni and sent him flying back a second time, as Ichigo came to his senses and was about to react when Hiyori released her Zanpakuto, shot forward with flash-step, appeared on the other side of the just sitting up Dordoni and stood there as his arm fell off in a spray of blood.

The enraged Dordoni tried to attack Hiyori only to hit air as she reappeared next to Ichigo and Nel, before making a comment. "For an Espada.. Your pretty fucking slow"

"You little perra!" Dordoni yelled out, holding his shoulder and puling out a sword with his free hand. "I was just playing with you before.. But now I am enfadado, Niño and Niña's…. Whirl, Giralda!"

A tornado briefly enclosed Dordoni and when it vanished, he now had large horns on his shoulders, white armor covering nearly all of his body and his mask now framed his face instead of acting as a headband on his forehead.

Two large, bird-like hollow mask things manifested and connected to cyclones of air that shout out of small exhaust ports in his leg's armor.

"Even with one arm., I shall grind all three of you in paste!" Dordoni yelled out angrily.

"Please.. I got this" Hiyori said, donning her Hollow mask and disappearing momentarily only to reappear above Dordoni. "Cero"

Hiyori opened the mouth of her hollow mask and shot out a huge cero beam down at Dordoni. After she landed again, Dordoni was laying there with smoke coming off of him from being hit point black with the cero Despite bleeding, missing an arm and in a lot of pain he clung to life.

"How… how are you so strong?" Dordoni struggled out. "You should be mere flies to me.. And yet,.. You were my superior"

"Sorry pal.. But we couldn't waste time plying with you" Hiyori said, dissipating her mask and releasing her Zanpakuto. "Ichigo.. The next Arrancar we face?.. Is all yours.. Be prepared to fight to the death… it's the only way you'll get stronger after all"

"I.. I know" Ichigo said, nodding though not particularly happy at the same time. "Let's keep moving"

"Wow…blondie is a Arrancar after all?" Nel exclaimed, popping up on Ichigo's shoulder again. "Nel is confused"

"She's not an Arrancar.. She's a Soul Reaper with the power of an inner hollow inside her.. A Vizard. That's why she can call upon a mask" Ichigo explained as the three of them began moving down the hallway again. "It's the same for me too.. I also have a hollow mask I can use if I need"

"Wow.. Both blondie and Itsygo have hollow masks?" Nel commented as they ran. "Nel thinks that's really cool.. But Nel's mask isn't as cool.. It's broken for some reason"

Ichigo nodded and glanced at Nel on his back. "I noticed your mask had a huge crack in it, but thought it was part of it's design"

"No.. Nel doesn't think it's suppose to be that way.. But Nel can't remember where Nel had her mask damaged" Nel replied, some what depressed. "But it's ok… Nel is happy because Nel has with her brothers and Bawabawa.. And now Itsygo too"

"Thanks Nel.." Ichigo said ,with small smile. "But for now.. Let's focus on getting through this place.."

"I don't suppose you have any idea of how to navigate this place, Nel?" Hiyori asked, looking at the small girl.

"Nel is sorry.. But Nel doesn't remember.." Nel replied. "Nel thinks she's been here before, but Nel can't remember it well.."

Hiyori nodded as they continued down the long, long hallway, trying to fond their way.

Meanwhile, Lisa found herself in a large room filled with strange columns and was almost immediately attacked by a yoyo like object that she easily dodged.

Lisa looked up and saw a girl with purple hair standing there on top of a large pillar in a strange gothic lolita dress and holding onto the other end of the yoyo weapon that was connected to the handle that belonged on a sword.

"So who do we have here?" Lisa asked, resting her Zanpakuto on her shoulder. "A creepy goth chick with a terrible fashion sense…. What a great opponent.. Wish I had picked a different path to take then this"

"Don't mock me you stupid uh.. You don't seem like a Soul Reaper, yet you have the spiritual energy of one. What are you exactly?" The girl asked looking at Lisa.

"That's easy.. I'm Lisa Yodamaru… the bitch that's gonna kick you gothic lolita ass" Lisa replied sliding her sword into it's sheathe and dropping it onto the floor. "I won't even need my Zanpakuto for this"

"Wanna bet?" The girl said, glaring. "I am Cirucci Sanderwicci.. The 105th Privaron Espada.. And former 10th Espada,, your no match me little school girl"

Lisa grinned at her and put her handed on her hips.. "Guess we'll find out huh?"

Cirucci threw her bladed yoyo like weapon at Lisa, who back flipped pit of it's path with ease.

"Are you even trying to hit me?"

"Shut up you glasses wearing bitch!"

Cirucci growled at Lisa before swinging her weapon, known as Golondrina, again, sending it to the floor and having it grind along the floor as it shot at Lisa.

Lisa raised an eyebrow and dashed back only for the spinning blade to turn with her and follow. _"What the hell? Did that thing turn on a dime and follow me like it has a mind of it's own?"_

"Come on! stand still so I can grind you into a pile of bloody paste!" Cirucci laughed, as the spinning blade actually nicked Lisa's shoulder just before she flash-stepped out of it's path.

"Not likely" Lisa stated, narrowing her eyes and flash-stepping close to the Arrancar. "Try my panty flash tornado on for size!"

Lisa was on her hand as she spun around like a tornado with her legs spread wide, kicking Cirucci off of her pillar.

Cirucci was sent flying, and smashing into a wall on the far side of the room where Lisa reappeared in front of her and did back flip, kicking her in her face ands smashing the back of her head into the wall.

"What's wrong, little Arrancar?" Lisa asked, jumping to a nearby pillar. "I thought you were going to grind me into paste?"

"Damn it!" Cirucci said spitting out blood from her mouth as she got out of the crater she had created when she slammed the wall. "Are you captain or something?"

"A captain?.. Nope.. When I was part of the Soul Society, I was just a lieutenant" Lisa replied calmly, standing there. "Granted I'm stronger then a captain these days, but no I'm not a captain. Or even a member of the 13 court guard squads if fact"

Cirucci looked at Lisa funny ass she leapt out of the crater ion the wall and jumped to another pillar. "What?.. Then why the fuck are you here fighting to save some human girl along side several Soul Reapers? ..are you the girl's friend?"

"Her friend?.. No.. only met her a few times.." Lisa replied putting her hands on her hips. "I'm not really here to save her.. I will free her from her captives if I get to her first, but that's not my primary reason for coming here"

"Huh?.. Why did you come to this god forsaken, shit hole of place?" Cirucci asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A long time ago when I was lieutenant in the 13 court guard squads, I along with several of my friends that were lieutenants and captains, were forcibly experimented on by Aizen and changed forever" Lisa said narrowing her eyes as she remembered. "I'm here to kill every follower of Aizen I come across to reduce the obstacles standing between me and Aizen when he comes to the world of the living….So I can kill that son of a bitch when he does"

Cirucci looked at Lisa as if trying to see if she was telling the truth. "You intend on killing Aizen?"

Lisa gave a short but perfect answer to Cirucci. "Damn right"

"Well.. You better get moving then.. Aizen's quite far from here" Cirucci stated, putting her weapon away. "If your lucky maybe you'll be able to take the asshole out before he can awaken the Hogyoku and gain anymore power"

"Huh?.. Wait...you want me to kill him?" Lisa asked in confusion. "What's your angle?"

"That's pretty easy actually.. Ever since that bastard came here most of us are more or less prisoners who have top bend to his will and are refrained from fighting… If we don't obey him, then we get punished.. Which ranges from being talked to in a way that chills your very soul or outright death" Cirucci explain, furrowing her eye brows. "The sooner he's dead, the sooner we're free of his rule.. Matter of fact.. Might as well help you and your allies here.. Better to fight with you then be killed by you or rot here forever"

"Teaming up with an Arrancar?.. Well.. I've done worse" Lisa said, picking up her sword off the ground. "But I'll kill you in a heart beat if you betray me"

"That's fine.. What good would betrayal do?" Cirucci asked, shrugging. "That would defeat my purpose of killing Aizen"

Lisa nodded at her. "Well then.. I assume you know the way to Aizen's.. so lead the way"

"He'll probably be at his "throne room" Cirucci said making quotation marks in the air. "It's a long way there though. And a lot of my fellow Arrancar are blindly loyal to him.. They won't make the trip easy for us.. Or your allies"

"It's not like we thought it would be cake walk" Lisa shrugged as they went to the door with Cirucci leading the way.

"Oh.. And we need to watch out for the Exequias made up of Rudbornn Chelute and his army of Calaveras…" Cirucci said, looking out the door.

"Who are they exactly?" Lisa asked as they left the room.

"Know one really knows much about him or his army.. Except that they act as clean up of sorts… they collect data of battles and kill any survivors present" Cirucci explained as they went down the hall. "You might have too much trouble with them if your captain level, but he and his army has a lot of tricks up their sleeves.. Not to be underestimated regardless though"

"I'll keep that in mind" Lisa replied as they came to an intersection. "So.. Which way?"

Cirucci looked over at Lisa as they stood there. "Depends.. Both paths will eventually lead in the right direction… and both are dangerous. The left path is shorter and leads to halls patrolled by various level hollows.. And Szayelaporro Granz.. the creepy, fucked up in the head 8th Arrancar…While the right path is longer but runs through the "lair" of Aaroniero Arruruerie.. the really strange and really powerful 9th Arrancar"

"So what do you recommend?" Lisa asked impatiently.

"Well.. I'd rather not end up on Granz's operation table getting experiments on while still alive. So…" Cirucci trailed off. "I say we take the right path.. It's longer but "Safer" to some degree"

"Fine.. Right it is.." Lisa said, turning the corner while Cirucci caught up. "This better not take too long"

"Trust me.. It's easier this way.." Her Arrancar ally answered. "If it makes you feel better, I know Aaroniero's weakness"

"Fine" Lisa said, nodding. "I just wish I had remember a certain important thing today"

Cirucci looked at Lisa strangely. "Huh?.. What would that be?"

"… panties" Lisa stated simply. "I forgot to put them on again and running creates quite the draft down there.. I don't suppose your carrying any extra with you?"

"Why would I be carrying extra underwear with me?" The purple haired girl asked, with a strange look. "You know what?.. I don't need an answer to that.. Lets just keep moving"

"Fine…" Lisa shrugged. "I really need to make memos about putting on underwear though"

"I'm not responding to that.. Let's just end the chapter already"

"Agreed"

End of chapter 56

To be continued…

Hope you enjoyed …. Please review if you can… and send any questions my way you have.. Sorry about the wait.. But… Uh.. Gremlins? Yeah…. Let's blame them. See you soon with new chapter


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